You Plus Me Equals Us!
by The Rose's Charm
Summary: A collection of one hundred short stories centering around Yuffie and Riku, ninja and fighters, antidamselsindistress and wouldbeprinces, but certainly nothing boring. Because like with a life like this, nothing is ever dull. 42 of 100 complete.
1. Annoying Dork

**Welcome to the Riku/Yuffie 100 -**

"**You Plus Me Equals Us!"**

**Welcome! I'm so very glad you've chosen to visit this teensy, tiny little corner of the Kingdom Hearts fandom, the one that ships Riku, everyone's favourite silver-haired, turquoise-eyed sex god and Yuffie, everyone's favourite great kleptomaniac ninja babe. Yes, Riku/Yuffie. Also known as Yuriku or Ruffiku. Quite the pairing, as I'm sure you'll find out.**

**These ficlets have nothing to do with each other. They are, essentially, small individual blurbs. Each chapter is another ficlet, another oneshot, another drabble. Nothing continues from another, nothing is necessarily connected to the other. it is merely a joining of one hundred (or, rather, soon to be) stories about Riku and Yuffie.**

**There will be laughter. There will be humour. There will be joy, happiness, crazy shenanigans, and, perhaps even a bit of angst. And, without furthur ado, the first story of one hundred...**

**Title:** Annoying Dork

**Wordcount:** 390

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K

**Notes:** This was written a LONG time ago for KHdrabble livejournal. It's old. It's Riku's second encounter with Yuffie after coming to Traverse Town. And thus is the start of their relationship.

**Annoying Dork**

Her mouth twists into a stubborn pout, dark eyes narrowing with that icy sort of quality that makes him roll his eyes. She isn't nearly as threatening as she thinks she is, he muses as he glances up and down her figure, which is tense and angry, her arms folded across her chest and the curve between her hip and abdomen apparent above her slow-slung shorts. Fairly curvy but still scrawny. Cute. Not bad for a fourteen year old.

"You're such a dork, Riku," she accuses. As usual, childish, immature. And really damn annoying, he thinks, and vaguely wonders why the King would just ditch him here in Traverse Town with these guys. He wanted adventure, not a loud, rambunctious kleptomaniac, a calm flower girl, and a moody leather fetishist.

"Shouldn't have left them on the floor, idiot," he retorts coolly, and tries to stand up from the couch, only to have her step over and shove his shoulders hard. Forced back down, he collapses there, and looks up at her with an irritated sort of scowl. Riku is grumpy. Riku is not looking forward to the rest of the day.

"You ruined my game," she denounces, glowering, and suddenly, pulls a knife from the holster on her thigh. He finds her crouching over him, one orange boot on either side of his thighs. Her dark hair hangs in her eyes, and her fishnet-gloved hand clutches the knife tightly, holding it under his throat.

He breathes slowly, feeling his patience ebb away. And, realizing that he has a lethal weapon at his windpipe, says, "Geez, I'm sorry."

She grins wildly. She pockets the knife, violet eyes dancing, body relaxing, and she gives him a quick kiss on the cheek. He stares at her a moment, taken aback, and then she says, "Now now, was that so hard, dorkus?"

Yuffie skips off, her marbles still spread out across the floor. Riku slowly sits up straight, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Idiot," he says, though no one else is in the room. But he smiles with amusement.


	2. Forever?

**Title:** Forever?

**Wordcount:** 204

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K

**Notes:** :) Nothing, really.

**Forever?**

"We're gonna be together forever?"

Riku couldn't help but grin at her - well, rather, grin to the blank space ahead of him, as Yuffie was currently seated on his hips, arms looped around his neck and her slim figure pressed against his back. He gave her a squeeze.

"Of course," he said cheerily, "as long as we're alive, I guess."

He felt her chin press against the top of his head, and her warm breath on his scalp.

"Good," she said, hugging him tighter, nuzzling him gently. "'Cause I was gonna hit you if you said no."

Riku chuckled, and dropped the sleepy ninja onto the couch, where he dropped down next to her, slinging an arm loosely around her shoulders. She gave a small yawn, resting her head on his shoulder, putting a hand on his chest and closing her eyes.

"Only you would say that, Yuffie," he smiled.

"I know," she said, snuggling closer. "it's 'cause I'm so original."


	3. Try Me

**Title:** Try Me

**Wordcount:** 349

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** T

**Notes:** Trying new things isn't so bad... :D

**Try Me**

"Hey!"

Riku turned in his seat as Yuffie bounced up behind him, putting down his magazine. Yuffie stopped at the couch, standing behind it, leaning over the back and slipping her arms around his neck.

"What's up?" he asked, reaching up one hand to brush her arm. Her lower arms were tucked under his chin tightly - not enough to choke, but firmly all the same - and her chin was resting next to his ear.

"I wanna try something," she said with a grin, then her lips brushed the curve of his jaw, the slowly moved up a bit, right by his ear. He could feel her nose brushing his hair, her soft lips pressing against his skin, gently working along his skin.

And then she gently kissed the lobe of his ear, before taking it between her lips and tugging gently, giving a light nibble. It was weird, Riku figured, but it felt _good_, oddly arousing. She stopped, and giggled, arms still around his neck.

"What was that?" Riku questioned, chuckling amiably, turning his head to look at her.

"Saw it in a movie once," she said innocently, loosening her arms and toying with his hair, a cheeky grin on her face.

With one smooth movement, he slipped from her arms, turning fully around and grabbing her under the arms with a grin. He lifted her up and over the back of the couch, much to her amusement, and plunked her down on the couch with a grin, pinning her lightly, one knee between her thighs and a hand down above her shoulder, holding his weight above her. And with a smile, he used his other hand to cup the side of her face, before lowering himself down to her, kissing her on the mouth gently.

"Now _I_ get a chance to try something," he smirked as he broke away.

She did not protest.


	4. Bathroom Shenanigans

**Title:** Bathroom Shenanigans

**Wordcount:** 1118

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** T

**Notes:** Honestly? I love this one. I think it's awkward and definitely not my best, but I LOVE the concept.

**Bathroom Shenanigans**

Yuffie wondered, really, how she could ever be such an awesome ninja, when she still had that clumsiness problem.

She ended up grabbing the towel rack for support, foot slipping on the side of the bathtub. While it prevented her from falling head-first into the ceramic flooring from the shower, it also seemed to have created a new doom - Yuffie Kisaragi, great ninja babe supreme, clinging to a towel rack for dear life, was also clinging to a mere skinny metal rod. And a skinny metal rod meant to hold feather-light towels, not growing fifteen year olds.

Thus, it was no surprise when it broke, although the reality of landing butt-first on the floor wasn't really a great prospect either.

The thunk of her elbow against the wall was loud, the crash of metal to flooring was loud, the sound of her bottom hitting the floor was loud, her yelp of pain was loud, and, needless to say, the soft "whump" of the towels landing on her was barely noticed among the rest of the chaos.

She hoped her cry of discomfort and the crash that was her destruction of the bathroom wouldn't attract other human beings, but unfortunately, _it did._ Just like it _always_ did whenever she manages to hurt herself or destroy the interior decorating.

The bathroom door opened, and one very alarmed Riku slid in, and one very shocked Yuffie yelped again.

"EVER HEARD OF KNOCKING, YOU PUFFY-LEGGED JERK!"

Riku stared down at her as she yelled at him, flushing red, and he broke out into apologetic streams of words, ranging from, "Holy... I am SO SORRY!" to "I'm sorry you don't lock the door!" to "SORRY YUFFIE!"

She used the conveniently-fallen towels to cover herself, face matching his in colour for the sheer embarrassment factor. How humiliating, to be caught like this in the face of a dear friend and romantic interest.

Yuffie rearranged the towel.

Riku stared.

Yuffie blinked.

Riku blinked.

Yuffie seized the now-bent towel-rod and brandished it furiously, and snarled, "Why are you still looking!"

He closed his eyes, putting his hands over his face for good measure. Awkwardly leaning against the counter, he said, voice going smooth again, "I thought you were being attacked by heartless or something, I had to come in and check on you and..."

There was a pause. Riku gave a weak smile, and said, "I'll just go then," and edged to the door, eyes closed.

"Oh NO, you do NOT!" she snapped, and Riku opened his eyes in surprise. She yelped, and he closed them again. "You're gonna keep your perverted ass right here, and you're gonna keep your perverted eyes CLOSED, until I'm dressed, so I can give you an ass-whipping for being such a pervert!"

Riku gave a nervous chuckle. Yuffie felt triumphant - still embarrassed, but triumphant all the same - just hearing that chuckle. Bold, arrogant, bad-ass, cooler-than-you Riku? Nervous? Hah! Hah hah hah! HAHAHAHA!

She had him there.

"Turn around, too, pervert," she commanded, waving a finger around, regardless of the fact he couldn't see it. He did so, and only then did she choose to get up, keeping her towel firmly pressed to her body, and seize her tank top from the floor. She tugged it over her head, despite still being wet from the shower. Oh well.

And when she glanced around for her underwear, she realized exactly where it was.

Right under Riku's left foot.

She could have died a million and one times and still not be finished with the embarrassment.

Of course, he wouldn't be allowed to know exactly how embarrassing that was. Yuffie was never one to let people know she was insecure - by the general public's standards, Yuffie Kisaragi was a shameless, intelligent, secure ninja babe. And she would always be like that.

But that was generally when her crush wasn't standing on her lacy boy-cut panties.

"You're standing on something of mine, Riku," she said, and he did the stupid thing, exactly what she had been dreading. He opened his stupid, pretty eyes, and stupidly looked right down at the stupid underwear, pinned under his stupid foot.

"Oh," he said, and as he lifted his foot to kick it to her, he realized what it was. He flushed further. "Um. Yeah. Sorry."

She picked them up and tugged them on over her hips, taking the few steps over to him. Grabbing her shorts and slipping them on, zipping up the zipper but leaving the button undone, she smirked. Now, how to deal with a conclusion-jumping lecher?

"Turn around, but keep your eyes closed," she commanded, and he did so slowly. He rested against the counter again, seemingly relaxed, putting down his hands. Well, at least he left his eyes closed, she mused. She lifted a fist, lining it up with his nose and drawing back her arm, keeping her elbow parallel with her knuckles.

Hesitation. Could she really punch her crush? A boy she adored? A cute guy who really had just been concerned for her safety?

Well. Yes, yes, and yes, technically, and the bastard would pay for thinking she, _Yuffie_, of all people, would need protection from a few stinking heartless. More specifically when she was _naked_ and in the _shower._ That stupid _pervert._

But the fact that he cared at all...

Oh, man, what a dilemma.

"Yuffie?" Riku said.

"I'm thinking. Keep those eyes closed."

"Alright."

Moments passed.

"Errr... Yuffie?"

"One minute!"

"Right."

Yet more minutes.

"Yuffie, I really -"

As long as it took to contemplate punching him, it didn't take any time to make another decision. Calmly, she placed a hand on his cheek, the other touching his shoulder, and pressed her lips to his. After a stunned moment on his part, he suddenly kissed back, eyes still closed, and her knee brushed his thigh as she pushed him against the countertop.

And then it was over.

Well, that shut him up.

"Yuf," Riku said, more like a statement than anything else, "what just happened."

His eyes opened. Her nose was brushing his still, her eyes staring into his.

She said nothing. Well. She could say it a genius plan, like everything else she made up. It wasn't a bad plan either, though - the shock factor for him was enough as it was.

But she had to admit that overall, kissing someone for invading the bathroom after her shower wasn't exactly the perfect revenge either.

Leaning back a bit, she smirked and tapped his nose, and said, "Next time, I'll punch your lights out."


	5. Undressed Perfection

**Title:** Undressed Perfection

**Wordcount:** 1153

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** M

**Notes:** :) Annijirika's birthday... and what else to give her but Riku/Yuffie smut:P

**Undressed Perfection**

Riku let out a long, low breath, more nervous than anything. Never once, in his seventeen years, had he imagined that if this moment ever came, he would be feeling shy and vulnerable. He was accustomed to feeling cool and sexy and everything else that would make them think he was nothing less than a sex god. A... virgin sex god.

He didn't touch her skin just yet - no, that would be strange, still being clothed and all. She just stood, a mere foot away, and he reached over to unbuckle the shoulder strap on her shirt, avoiding brushing her skin but listening to the soft clank of the belt buckle as it fell loose. The other was even shorter work. She didn't say anything, flushed in the face, staring at him with a sort of tense excitement. Her fingers grasped the hem of his shirt, tugging it up. He shucked it off easily, letting it fall to the floor with a soft thump.

Her hand was placed gently against his chest, the fishnet gloves etching patterns against his skin. He took another breath, then took the bottom hem of her own shirt, knuckles brushing her skin, fingertips brushing the edge of her bra. She still said nothing, and just lifted her arms up, letting him pull it off with relative ease, tucking her chin in for a moment. The tube top joined his shirt on the floor.

Riku laughed, half out of joy - he was undressing a hot girl he loved! Go him! Yes! - and half out of sheer embarrassment - he was undressing a hot girl he loved, and didn't want to do something incredibly lame to make her uncomfortable or think he was stupid or something.

Yuffie smiled, slowly tracing the curve of his jaw with one hand, the other outlining the edge of his pants. He could feel himself being aroused, quite quickly, and she didn't seem to mind at all. He cupped one breast in his palm awkwardly, feeling her warmth and her heartbeat under her skin. That perfect, loving heart.

"I love you," she said suddenly, softly, almost in a whisper. He never heard her whisper, hardly ever - she was naturally loud by nature. It was low, hushed, and incredibly sexy, he thought. His feet tingled, and he wondered if the blood was flowing anywhere but his groin and his face.

"I love you too," he replied, lowering his lips to hers. She kissed back, eagerly, undoing his belt buckle with nimble fingers. He did the same for her, pulling her belt from its loops, then moving on to her shorts, finding the top button already undone. He didn't push them off her hips, not just yet, as much as he wanted to. It was more than enough, for the moment, to brush the smooth skin of her lower abdomen, to finger the rim of her panties. Yuffie, apparently, wasn't so shy - his pants dropped, and he stepped out of them slowly, trying not to move away from her at the same time. Her hands reached his, trapping them to her hips, and guided them into tugging off her shorts. He didn't complain.

He stared at her for a moment, and she stared back with that curious look she always had. Clad in nothing but a green bra, white boy-cut panties, thigh-high white socks and fishnet gloves... she was sexy. She was perfect, from her perfect forehead to her socked toes. Gorgeous skin, wide, warm eyes, that perfect smile. She was _everything_, really. He saw her as flawless. His girlfriend, his ninja, his _Yuffie_ was flawless in every way.

Then her lips claimed his, covering his mouth, and he felt her tongue run along his bottom lip teasingly. He reciprocated eagerly, using one hand to tug down the edge of her gloves, stripping them from her arms quickly. He wanted to touch, he wanted to feel, he wanted to caress every stunning curve of her body.

And then she pushed him back, not repulsively, merely moving forward with him until he was sitting down on his bed. She sat on his knees, straddling his waist, hands moving up his arms to rest on his shoulders. The back of her heels brushed his ankles, locking herself into place and balancing on his lap. Riku's arms slipped around her, pulling her closer.

She pulled away suddenly, sitting back on his knees, staring at him with wide brown eyes. He stared back, wondering if he had done something wrong.

"I've... never done this before... I'm not doin' anything wrong, am I?" she asked, one hand trailing down his chest. The motion - simple but delicate but incredibly pleasurably - made him shudder slightly, and he moved one hand to cup her cheek.

He shook his head furiously, and said, "No, not at all... I've... I've never done this either... am I doing something wrong?"

She shook her head slowly, and his hand drifted to her shoulder, brushing her bra strap and pushing it down off her shoulder. It fell loose around her forearm. He moved to the other one, brushing it down, and then reached for the bra clasp at the back, fumbling stupidly for a moment, the blush on his face growing hotter with embarrassment.

She laughed, good-naturedly, and reached behind her, unhooking and letting the bra fall to hang from her elbows. Her laugh died to exchange for a more serious look - and he swallowed air in a stupefied sort of shock, then smiled back at her, letting his lips fall to her neck and kiss down slowly. One hand slid down her abdomen, daring himself to go there, slipping between the elastic of her panties and her skin. Her bare foot brushed against the back of his shin suddenly, as she let out a sort of gasp, tensing, back arching a bit. If humanly possible, he flushed even further.

She was _gorgeous_. Absolutely _gorgeous_.

And she loved _him._

"Riku..." she said softly, in a calm, happy voice, a blush spread across her cheeks, her lips lowering to his neck and kissing there gently, sucking and teasing his skin. Well, he thought with amusement, if she was going to leave evidence, so would he, and he grinned and pressed his lips to her neck.

He laid back, falling back to lie on his bed, pulling her with him so she was over him. She didn't protest, straddling his hips. He gave a pleasurable moan.

And as he looked up at Yuffie's face, beaming down at him, he reached up to brush her long bangs from her face, smiling back up at her. She grinned, bringing her lips down to his again.

And nothing could be more perfect than this.

Nothing could be more perfect than them.


	6. Mine

**Title:** Mine

**Wordcount:** 653

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** T

**Notes:** Yay. I love sharpie markers... though they do get people in trouble :)

**Mine**

"I'm yours, and you're mine!"

Yuffie's singsong voice was music to his ears - _his_ Yuffie, seated on his lap, facing him, sprawled on him with her cheek against his chest, the top of her head fitting perfectly under his chin. She was wearing nothing but a bra and her short shorts, he was wearing nothing but his pants. Just snuggling, just cuddling, in the sunshine on her bed.

"Really?" he teased, ruffling her hair with one hand, "I don't see your name on me."

She sat back, a devilish grin spreading on her cute features, and climbed off him. He watched in amusement as she skipped over to her desk, rummaging around in the drawers. After a moment of searching, shoving trinkets and things aside, she pulled out a fabric bag, and brought it over with a grin, dumping the contents - a dozen colored markers - on the bed. Seating herself again and picking up a turquoise marker, she wrote along his bare chest, over his heart, "YUFFIE'S RIKU". He laughed.

"There," she said triumphantly, "you're mine, officially, and anyone else who wants a piece has to answer to ME!"

"Really now," he grinned, taking a marker and uncapping it, popping the cap onto the other end of it. Pressing the tip of the marker to the center of her cleavage, he dragged it down and then up again in a loop, leaving a big orange "R". "I" and "K" followed across her left breast, and, pushing down the cup of her bra so he wouldn't get marker on it, he drew a "U".

"And you're mine," he grinned, as she picked a different marker and doodled a few hearts along his shoulder in bright red, gently scribbling them in. Switching to green, he drove the felt-tip softly across her collarbone, driving it in swirls and swoops, random designs. Along her ribs, he wrote out inside jokes, her favourite words, anything that came to mind, as she scrawled "i heart u" along his neck and jaw. She giggled, he chuckled. It was childish, but fun.

"I'm not much of an artist," he laughed, glancing down at his forearm as Yuffie doodled a few stars there, and recapped the marker, choosing a metallic silver one. Starting at her navel, he wrote out a few lines of the lyrics to her favourite songs. She squirmed, ticklish, and he rolled her over to pin her under him, laughing and kissing her, burying his face into her neck and kissing still before going back to writing. She continued writing on him, until both of them were like rainbows.

"I'm running out of room," she teased as she undid the zipper on his pants, her nimble fingers making short work of his belt and buttons, sliding them down and getting another few inches of skin out of it, other than his boxers. The marker tip danced over his lower thighs and knees, and he took off her shorts, dragging them off her hips as she lifted them, writing along her lower abdomen and thighs, getting teasingly close.

He felt a flush creep onto his face as he noticed the reflection in the mirror of what she was writing across his forehead, and, with a grin, he lifted the orange marker to her cheek in retaliation.

_I'm going to lick all the way down to your –_

And, as Riku was writing naughty things along the curve of her jaw, that was when he saw the label on the marker.

Permanent, non-washable.

Oh.

_Oh._

His eyes flicked to Yuffie, down the length of her body, and up to the slightly unfinished sentence, then back to the label on the maker.

Leon was going to _slaughter_ him.


	7. Night Heat

**Title:** Night Heat

**Wordcount:** 2332

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** T

**Notes:** Leon always gets _incredibly_ disturbed when it comes to Yuffie and Riku's little misadventures. :) While this definitely isn't my favourite, I do like how it turned out.

**Night Heat**

If there is one thing about the Destiny Islands he never thought he'd miss, this was it.

Destiny Island and the surrounding area, including his home town, is notoriously hot during the days, but the evenings are crisp and comfortable and the nights cool. It is wonderful - cool enough to go to bed with a blanket but hot enough that you don't roast. Riku generally didn't like that temperature - it was almost too cold for his tastes, as someone who loves the warmth like nothing else. He had hated it, sometimes.

But now, he wants nothing more than that comfortable temperature, perfectly moderate.

Traverse Town, apparently, has that hot city heat all night.

He paces his room restlessly, the fabric of his t-shirt clinging to his skin in a disgusting sort of way, his body heat acting like some sort of glue. It is disturbingly hot, and the glow of the streetlights outside do nothing to help, straining through the old lace drapes covering the window, leaving a musty light to highlight everything. His bare feet slap the green carpet, finding it only warm and scratchy.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, wide awake and in a hot sweat, his bangs plastered to his forehead and his eyes open, Riku scowls. Ugh. _Ugh._

Deciding that he'd rather be walking around than pacing his room for hours on end - it is terribly boring at three in the morning - he opens his door and heads down the hall.

The house the four coexist in is small, cramped, but fairly comfortable. Yuffie had told him shortly after his arrival that, she, Leon and Aerith had saved for years to move into an actual house, not the single-roomed shack they had lived in for a short while, or the hotel rooms before that. An honest, actual, REAL house, that was their place to live "forever 'n ever" where she has her own bedroom. Leon and Aerith share one down the hall. His is a tiny, temporary bedroom usually used for storage, but now it is his. For the time being, anyway.

Hoping the living room - cramped like every other room in the damn house - will offer some sort of solace from the heat, he seats himself on the couch, yawning. It isn't any help, though the room was darker than this, and, somehow, a tiny bit cooler. Moonlit-born shadows creep under a doorway to his right, and without having to look at the childish scrawl on the door, ("The Greatest Ninja Babe EVER Sleeps Here" isn't a story he knows, yet, but he will eventually) he already knows who is behind those two inches of wood. He waits, fingers silently drumming the couch's beaten armrest, listening for something to signal to him. No noise. None at all.

It is _scary_ to think that a house with Yuffie in it is a house that has quiet, no matter what hour of the day.

So he does the only thing logical to his slightly-heat-deranged mind at that very moment.

He pushes the door open.

Yuffie doesn't look up for a moment, as she is more occupied with other things. There is a lollipop in her mouth, and a book in one hand, and her headphone are on and blaring so loudly that Riku can almost make out the, "Lalala" currently drowning Yuffie's eardrums in upbeat dance music. Sprawled on her stomach like a cat, one elbow propping her head up, she flips the pages of her comic book, skimming the words and focusing more on the pictures. Riku notes her attire - a loose-fitting camisole and boy-cut panties, and can't help but blush.

After a few moments, she feels his eyes glued to her, and using one thumb, she unhooks a headphone from her ear. Riku's eyes wander from one ear to her eyes, to her mouth, her lips and tongue stained red from the candy. She looks straight at him, music still going in one ear, and says, "What's up?"

"I can't sleep," seems like an awfully lame excuse, he realizes, so the next best thing is a laid-back remark of, "It's hot and I'm bored."

She rolls over onto her back, book flopping over, the other headphone falling so it hung from her neck. Riku can easily make out the words of her music like that, and she stares at him with wide eyes for a moment.

"So you invade my room?" she says, grinning, looking at him upside down, hanging off the edge of the bed. The book falls to the floor as she rocks the mattress, springing up with a grin and waltzing over to link an arm with him. "Y'should have let me know earlier... I wouldn't have sat around bored to tears on my own. Let's go bake cookies or somethin'!"

Riku doesn't particularly like cooking. But with nothing else better to do, he allows himself to be dragged off, and five minutes later, he finds himself not at the counter, but on the floor, with a ring of ingredients around him, the mixing bowl on his lap. Yuffie kneels in front of him, cheerfully cracking eggs and dropping them into the mixing bowl with a slopping noise, pausing to pick out chips of fallen shell.

"Butter?" he asks, and she crawls around him to grab it from the dish by his hip. He stirs the batter endlessly, the wooden spatula scraping the sides of the metal bowl. "Geez," he adds, "are you sure this is sanitary, being on the floor and all?"

"It's cooler down here," she retorts, "and besides, it's not like we're making it straight off the floor... and we do wash the floor, y'know."

The cookie dough is mostly complete as she dumps a chunk of butter in, and a giant cupful of sugar. Measuring takes too much time, Yuffie thinks, so she never bothers counting ouch each number. A bit here, a bit there, she doesn't think she needs to, though Riku notices that there is so much sugar in there that someone's going to be diabetic sooner or later.

"Heh", he chuckles back, "I hate cooking, so don't mind me."

She raises one eyebrow, two stray locks of dark hair falling over one eye. "Hey," she asks, "then why'd you say yes?"

"'Cause it's better than nothing and you didn't give me a choice," he teases back, and she prods his nose gently.

"Of course!" she grins.

Sticking her fingers straight in the dough and stealing a handful, she plops it down in a sticky mass in the middle of the cookie tray. Riku does the same, cheerfully shaping them into smaller piles, instead of letting it mass into one giant cookie dough mound, refusing to let it become a cookie pizza. Yuffie's nimble fingers shape out stars and hearts and ninja weapons, while his become clubs and spades and diamonds to match her hearts. As the sheet fills, balanced between their laps, Yuffie scrapes a bit of dough from the side of the bowl, and offers it to Riku. When he declines, she pops it into her mouth with a grin.

"Don't like cookie dough?" she asks coyly, fingers grasping a bit of dough, offering it again. When he can't lie and say, "No," he grins and takes her hand by the wrist, picking the dough off her hand with his other hand, popping it in his mouth.

"It's okay," he says, she laughs and licks her fingers clean in a catlike sort of way. "Kairi used to bake stuff for us."

"Really?" Yuffie says, leaning back and staring up at the ceiling, tilting her head back. Riku likes the way her neck looks like that, smooth and exposed, not covered by scarves or collars. Kissable, really.

"Yup."

"Miss her lots?"

He doesn't like those sorts of questions, the really obvious ones that grate at his mind and make him feel guilty over the things he's done.

"Yup."

"She's cute. She stayed with us after... well, y'know. She was really nice and sweet, and while she was too girly sometimes, she was fun," Yuffie says, and before she can launch into a ramble, as Yuffie is prone to do, Riku cuts her off.

"Yep. Kairi's pretty awesome."

"Y' like her?" Yuffie asks, and that question sticks and nags at him. Who wouldn't like Kairi? She was spunky and fun, and she was always there for people. Riku looks away from Yuffie's violet eyes to wander elsewhere, trying to hide how vulnerable he feels.

"Yup," he nods calmly, his eyes meandering to examine the curve of her hip, the faint crease above her panties going down her abdomen. She's so skinny, he thinks, and he continues, "She likes Sora, though."

"Yeaaaah, she talked about him loads," Yuffie shrugs, and reaches one messy hand over to him to ruffle his bangs, giving a wink and a grin. "But don't be jealous of him, you'll always have me."

Have _her_?

So he does the only logical thing, which would be to ignore Kairi's face in his mind and lean over the mixing bowl and the tray, to press his lips to hers and cup her chin with one hand, pressing her against the side of the counter. He knocks over the carton of milk, but he doesn't care.

She giggles, then, before he can react, snatches an egg from the carton, and smashes it on his shirt.

He gasps, shocked, and holds his shirt away from his skin, the viscous egg blob sliding down his front. Yuffie's laughs, amused but not entirely malicious, make it all the more irritating, but he brushes it off and pulls off his shirt, throwing it aside. And, as she clutches her sides and snickers at him, he seizes a bottle of vegetable oil, and empties it over her head.

Her laugher dies to be replaced by his, and she lunges at him, nearly upsetting the mixing bowl, pinning him by the shoulders to the ceramic flooring, and grabs a bottle of vanilla extract, spraying at across his shoulders. She continues laughing.

Arming himself with a handful of flower, he ruffles it into her hair, and she lets out a yelp as it sticks to the vegetable oil. She is quick to grab baking powder and blasts it into his face, and he wipes the powder from his eyes with the back of his hand, both still laughing hysterically.

Clambering to their feet, they round the table, faking rights and lefts, here and there, circling like feral animals. In Yuffie's right hand is a whisk, in her left, she clutches a bag of chocolate chips. Riku finds himself armed with a tea-towel and a spoon, and as he fakes a right, she slides to his left, and catches him over the head with the chocolate chips.

The floor slippery, Riku skids on the wet, slick ceramic tiles, and he grabs onto Yuffie so he won't fall. Dragging her down with him, she lands on top of him, and she sticks out her tongue at him in mockery as he acts as her pillow. A bonk on the nose soon puts her in her place, though, as he taps her with the spoon and rolls her under him, pinning her easily.

"No fair, lemme up!" she giggles.

"Hey, you started it!" he manages to say between gasps for breath, laughing hysterically, Yuffie beneath him laughing so hard she's almost shaking, and Riku runs a hand through her food-coated hair and she takes his hand to teasingly lick off a speckle of cookie dough. He nips her on the neck, gently, then kisses away the dough plastered to her chin. He's incredibly thankful that Aerith and Leon are heavy sleepers - he and Yuffie are noisy enough to wake the universe, he thinks, and Yuffie voices the same thing only seconds later.

Still breathing deeply from their romp, exhausted, Riku collapses to the floor next to her, ignoring the fact that the spot under his shoulder is damp with spilt milk and the small of his back is resting in a pile of flour. Yuffie yawns, closes her eyes and falls asleep, right there, next to him on the kitchen floor. Riku looks at her for a moment, then grins.

Well. Maybe there is an upside to the night heat - it does make for good cooking.

**-x- **

**-x-**

**-x-**

**-x-**

Leon shrugs on his housecoat, fixing the covers to cover Aerith. With a yawn, he pads down the hall, and pauses when he sees the kitchen lights on. Going over with a grave sense of impending doom, he stops when he's close enough to see in the room. All he sees is dried egg pasted onto the cupboard doors, and the side of an abandoned, empty mixing bowl.

He doesn't want to get closer, because he _knows_ it's going to be trouble.

But he does anyway.

He takes a moment to take in the kitchen ceiling, which has stalactites of goopy brown matter clinging to it. On the floor, sugar feels gritty between his bare feet and the tile, and his eyes wander over the scattered chocolate chips. The overturned bottle of vanilla extract. The thin, dusty white layer of flour coating almost _everything_. It is absolutely terrifying, his kitchen.

And in the middle of the floor, half under the table, he lets himself see the pile of human flesh, two figures snuggled together, wearing nothing but underwear and various food ingredients.

_Sigh._

His eyes fall on the cookie tray, loaded with shapes of dough, and then on the oven, already preheated and ready to go. Picking up the tray and popping it in, he punches in the timer numbers for twenty minutes, and pads back to bed.

They'll deal with it when they wake up, and then, they'll be grounded, punished, and will _never_ hear the end of it.


	8. Boundaries and Points

**Title:** Boundaries and Points

**Wordcount:** 1447

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K+

**Notes:** A bit of fluff. What can I say, I like flirty things and fluffy things.

**Boundaries and Points**

Maturity has never been Yuffie's strong points.

When she was younger, she used to count how long she could resist before laughing or saying something childish when presented with a serious situation. At fifteen, she still isn't able to last five minutes.

She and Riku are goofing around. Nothing serious - they're just friends, after all, just friends, always friends - and she unintentionally makes a move. While they tease and playfully wrestle, she pins him down, straddling his waist with a grin and leaning over, grabbing his wrists and trapping them against the carpeted floor. She doesn't think much of it as her nose brushes his - but this is close contact, and different people think different things.

Do friends get that close?

"You're such a girl sometimes," she teases, "you're so easy to pin."

His eyes get a sort of look - not angry, more amused, but certainly not enthralled. It's challenging, it's a I-can-do-better look. He gives a soft, "heh," avoiding arguing it, but she can see the ideas brewing in his head just by that look in his eyes.

She watches him for a moment, engaging him in a staring match, until she bursts out in a fit of giggles. Two minutes of semi-serious time. He chuckles, and then, as soon as her guard is down, he shoves up, giving himself the right momentum to slam her body down next to him. Rolling to crouch on top of her, he reverses their roles, gently clutching her wrists and holding them above her head.

"YOU are such a girl sometimes, Yuffie," he teases, "you're so easy to pin... I think I'll keep you here for a minute, just for calling me a girl."

"I am a girl, dorkus," she retorts, and he laughs, keeping trapped beneath him.

She pouts, and then squirms, hips trapped between his knees.

"But as long as I have you here," he grins, "what do you think of me?"

Oh, that's not a fair question at all, not when she's almost completely at his mercy. She could lift one knee and give him one swift slam, but this is Riku, her Rikuriku, and she's not about to do something like that to him - though she would to anyone else.

She contemplates this for a moment, then bursts out laughing. One minute and fourteen seconds. Riku looks at her with a sort of bemusement, and she smirks, "I think you're fun, but totally full of yourself."

Lifting one eyebrow, he is quick to say, in a voice that's all laid-back and cool and sexy and every tone that friends _shouldn't_ be using with each other, "You're one to talk, as someone who throws around the title of great ninja babe."

"Hey," she grins, "you know it's true - I'm damn sexy, I'm totally kick ass, and I could beat anyone with one hand tied behind my back!"

"Big words for someone pinned to the floor," Riku smirks, and she gives a carefree, dismissive laugh.

The boundary of close friends is tested even further when she wriggles, lifting her head to bring her lips to his ear, and replies cheekily, "You never know what's going through my mind, Riku, never ever, 'cause I'm a genius and you'll never know what I'm thinking."

That sort of intimate closeness - whispered words, lips brushing skin, straddled bodies and the like - is reserved for lovers, boyfriends and girlfriends, and the ever elusive Friends With Benefits. But not for casual friends, partners in crime, two teenagers with a curious nature, a boy and a girl seeking adventure.

Yuffie rolls suddenly, lifting her hips and shoving up, giggling at his surprised "oomph!" as he is again slammed to the bottom. He doesn't say anything, so she interjects, "Ahaha, on the bottom again!"

"Not for long," Riku replies, and moves to roll her, but this time, Yuffie's ready - she splays one leg out on either side, acting as a wedge, preventing him from toppling her. After a few fruitless squirms, she lets out a victorious laugh as he ends up rolling over without her, and she seats herself on him with a grin. Well - that was four minutes. Closer than nothing, Yuffie, but still not that close.

"Oof," Riku says, "Yuffie, get off me."

"Nuh uh!" she grins, slumping over him and turning him into her very own living, breathing couch, resting her chin on his shoulder and lying down on him. She giggles, her breath ruffling his hair, and closes her eyes. Riku chooses this moment to rise to his hands and knees, and seizes her knees with his arms, and struggling to his feet as she clings to his neck.

"Gotcha," he grins, and she repeats him cheerily, head-locking him.

"You're dumb," she laughs, and he jostles her forward, dropping her off him. Clinging for her life, she keeps her arms around his neck and slides to be in front of him, shoes scraping the ground, and he ducks so he won't be strangled. Then, with a grin, she jumps to wrap her legs around his waist, clinging to his front like there is no tomorrow.

"Heeey," he says, arms slipping to her sides to rest by her ribs, just under her arms. Trying to push her off to no avail, he says, "C'mon, Yuffie, get off."

"Can't make me," she grins, pushing the limits of friendship again as he ducks from her grip and hoists her petite figure over his shoulder, wrapping his arms around her thighs. She protests, and he expects, and flaps her feet uselessly, shoving him with her hands. "Riiiiku, don't hang me by your stupid butt!"

"Stupid?" he chuckles, using one hand to grab her ankles, leaning forward slightly so she won't overbalance him. With an arrogant laugh, he replied, "I rather like my butt, thanks."

"Yeah, well," she argues, "it _is_ kinda nice, but I don't want to be down here, thanks, you're makin' all the blood rush to my head and makin' me feel kinda sick! Lemme go!"

"Damn straight it's nice," he grins, and turns his head slightly so that - to the great stress of the "Boundaries of Friendship Line" - his cheek is leaning against her bottom, and he says, "yours isn't that bad either, you know."

"I have an awesome ass," she shoots back, trying to prop herself up so she will be less horizontally challenged. Accidently, she slips, and her hand grasps that – well – _very fine_ Riku butt. Riku turns slightly, spinning her with him.

"Hey, someone's getting grabby," he grins, and Yuffie can barely see the flush on his face from this angle.

The boundaries of friendship, so fragile and gentle to begin with, splinters sharply as Riku pats her bottom with a smirk, and she lets out a squeal, half out of surprise and half out of indignation.

"RIKU, YOU PERV!" she shouts, flushing, and he drops her onto the couch with a grin.

And the border between friendship and lovers is not only passed, but seized, held hostage and completely leveled as Riku swoops down and covers her mouth with his, kissing her in a way that makes them, oh yes, much more than friends.

Yuffie stares up at him with big brown eyes, innocent and shocked, and he stares back in a sort of awe at what he's done.

The moment is serious, tense, and Yuffie counts the seconds.

"What do you think of me?" he asked, voice grave.

Thirty seconds pass in silence.

One minute. Yuffie's fingers trace his arm, gently, eyes locked on his.

One minute, thirty seconds. Riku gives a nervous smile, staring down at her, and she can feel his warm breath on her neck as his face lowers to hers slightly, but keeping a respectable distance.

"I think..."

Two minutes. Yuffie's voice trails off out of embarrassment, and she finds herself growing hot in the face. Hot, but not in the same context that she thinks Riku is hot.

Two minutes, thirty seconds. Wait? Didn't boys have _cooties_ precious few years ago?

"... I kinda, really, super like you."

Three minutes, four minutes have passed by now. She doesn't say anything again

"Really?"

Four minutes and forty five seconds.

And five minutes have passed until she cracks a wide grin and sits up enough to kiss him, her arms wrapping around his neck and dragging him down.


	9. Run, Troublemaker, Run!

**Title:** Run, Troublemakers, Run

**Wordcount:** 1389

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K+

**Notes:** An AU piece - where people meet, words are exchanged, and everyone gets to laugh at the teacher's expense.

**Run, Troublemakers, Run**

"Kisaragi!"

Yuffie spun at a an alarming rate, flailing an arm and tugging around her messenger bag, wincing. Oh no, oh no, oh _no._ With a nervous smile, she replied, keeping her voice airy and light.

"Yes, mister... uh... uh..."

What as his name again? Folding her hands behind her back and trailing off, grinding the toe-cap of one shoe into the ceramic floor, she looked up at the gruff, muscular engineering teacher. His arms were folded in front of his chest, a toothpick hanging off his lip. Yuffie could smell the stale nicotine on his breath, his ice blue eyes staring into hers, leering and glaring.

Gawd, the guy knew how to intimidate.

"Uh..."

"Highwind."

A sheepish grin playing on her face, she said, "Right! Right. Mister Highwind. What's up? Is there somethin' I can do for you? Somethin' wrong?"

He ran a hand through his hair, then gestured down at her. She looked down, moving to stand on both feet and rocking gently.

"Where's your skirt?"

Ah. The skirt. _That_ problem. The skirt she was currently not wearing, the skirt that was regulation, the skirt that every girl in her high school was sold and had to wear every day at school. The blue pleated skirt that wasn't on her person right this very moment.

But she wasn't naked. Oh, no, Yuffie Kisaragi was decent. She was just wearing, well...

"Girls aren't allowed to wear boys' uniforms, Kisaragi."

"I'm not," she replied smartly, shifting her weight to one leg. The pants were uncomfortable, yes - well, duh, they were meant for sticklike boys, not girls with curvy hips - but at least they weren't so stupidly short. Reaching up one hand and tugging at the yellow scarf tied at her chest, she added, "look. Girl-type uniform. No problem, huh?"

"Pants, Kisaragi. Did you just steal some poor kid's pants and just _not realize_ you weren't wearing a skirt?"

Heh. Um. Uh. What to say? Guilty of all charges, yay, ship me off to detention right now, as soon as possible, yes, I love doing extra scrubbing?

No.

"I don't like skirts," Yuffie replied.

"Kid, don't be a troublemaker," the teacher shot back, "you go get in your proper uniform right now, 'cause there is no way you're going to run around settin' a bad example for the younger students, and givin' our school a reputation as lax, huh? Your daddy probably payed a lot to send you to this school and–"

He paused as something bounced off his head, and he turned to look over his shoulder. Yuffie leaned to the side to see who it was, and exchanged a grin with the culprit. The teacher bent over and picked up the crumpled ball of paper, and then turned to march over to the boy standing a bit down the hall.

"Hey!" the boy grinned, holding a second piece of paper in his hand, flat and so that the contents were displayed for the world - oh, lovely, his engineering class' homework. And, slowly, he crushed it between his palms, shaping it into a ball.

"You, boy, what the hell d'you think you're doing?" Highwind started, moving in the boy's direction. The boy, with a cheeky grin and a one-syllable mouthing to her, merely let him advance, weighing the ball in one hand.

Yuffie did as he suggested - she ran.

-x-

Yuffie rounded a corner, only to get the shock of her life.

The boy appeared out of nowhere, seemingly, though it was obvious he was right there. His arms slipped around her, acting like a blockade in front of her, so she ran, smack dab, into him. He hugged her to his chest with a grin, and she paused for a moment, too shocked to notice. Then, pulling back with a yelp, she demanded, "Hey, what's the big idea?"

And as she got a second look at his face, she realized who he was exactly - well, she had realized it immediately, but she just had to _confirm _it.

"Ack, sorry, you're that guy that helped me out back there."

He let her go, and she stepped back a few paces. She stared at him for a few moments, and he grinned, "No problem, Kisaragi. Anything for a cute girl."

Feeling herself flush a bit, she corrected him, "M'name's Yuffie."

"Riku," he replied, giving a slight bow of his head. She returned the bow, keeping her eyes on him. He wasn't looking for anything, was he? He was just _standing there,_ staring at her like he was going to ask for a reward or something. After all... how often did people risk suspension, hell, risk _expulsion_, for attacking a teacher, just to save some random girl from having to change her stupid uniform?

"Did he catch you?"

Riku shrugged carelessly, and replied, "Nah. But I'm in his class, so I suppose he's not too worried about catching me immediately."

"... Oh," she winced, "sorry 'bout that, then."

He laughed - and it was a nice laugh, a sort of carefree chuckle that made her laugh right back.

"Like I said, Yuffie, anything for a cute girl. You owe me, though."

Ah, there it was. The ever elusive Catch. Yup, Yuffie's genius figuring-out skills hadn't failed her, there was something she owed this cocky, witty, and, yeah, gotta admit it, sexy, guy. Something... something what? Money, homework, favours...

"A kiss."

Her eyes widened and then narrowed, and when he saw the look, he raised his hands in protest and laughed, and said, "I was joking. You don't owe me anything, I was just kidding arou–"

But kidding or not, Yuffie took her chance, chose to be daring and dominant (was she ever not?) and slipped her arms around his neck, leaning close and rising on her tiptoes to place a kiss on his lips. Shut up quite effectively, he returned the sudden affection almost immediately, his hands drifting to her waist.

And when the kiss broke off, they both smiled, until an all-too-familiar voice grabbed their attention.

"Hey! You hooligans, there you are, get over here this instant you–"

Both turned to see the irate teacher down the hall, pointing at them and appearing ready to charge. Yuffie could easily imagine, with her genius sense of creative powers, Highwind grabbing them by the collars and hauling them to the office for a shouting match. Riku's hand slipped into hers, and he began to run, pulling her with him.

"Might wanna split up, y'know, he'll get us if we don't," she said, pulling a few strides ahead of him, her bag bouncing against her side and soles slapping the ceramic loudly.

"Yeah, sounds great," he agreed, following her as she rounded a corner and headed down the stairs. "Where do you wanna meet?"

"We're gonna meet?"

"Of course," he said, and she looked over her shoulder to see a grin on his face - oh, that gorgeous grin. "How about that restaurant down the street, the one with the big blue sign?"

She skidded to a halt, dragging him into a doorway and into another hall, half to catch her breath from the sudden dash, half to ask an important question, pressing herself against a wall and him against her, staring up at him.

"That one where..."

And, hello, Yuffie being hit over the head with the imaginary but very painful clue-by-four!

"Hey, are you asking me on a date?"

His playful aquamarine eyes met her violet ones, and he said, "If you want it that way, Miss I-Don't-Wear-Skirts."

"I've known you for, like... ten minutes," she replied.

"You kissed me after nine minutes."

A wry smile spread on her face - gawd, did she ever sound easy, but _screw that_ - and she shifted her weight to one foot, folding her arms across her chest and looking up at him with a very amused look.

"Good point."

"So it's a date?"

Oh, _please_, was it a date?

"Is the world round?"

"Gotcha," he grinned, cupping her face with both hands and placing a kiss on her forehead, before tearing off down the hall.

And Yuffie headed on her way, as Highwind sped around the corner.


	10. Adventure Finds You

**Title:** Adventure Finds You

**Wordcount:** 987

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K

**Notes:** Felt like posting something a little more serious, a little more introspective for Riku - a different take on the beginning of their adventure together, one of many alternate views I have on the pairing. I do have quite a few lighter things to post later - but for now, here's something to tide you all over until those get edited... really, I like keeping things light and airy for Ruffiku, but I just needed to get a bit of a darker piece done. And excuse my rambling :)

Also, as a note, we are now 10 of the way through the adventure that is You Plus Me Equals Us:) Thank you all so, so much for your kind praise and concrit - it means so much to me!

**Adventure Finds You**

She's the friend of a friend, the little sister of a reluctant guardian, the acquaintance of a King. Certainly not his friend, certainly not his sister, yet, it seems, certainly not just an acquaintance. Her lips curve into a smirk, her shoulders hunched, as she watches him from across the room, curled up on the couch. He dislikes her childishness - he has been running from his for great spans of time, now - and he loves her childishness - after all, adults are superficial, boring. Riku? He is adventurous. Ages, eons, years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, seconds ago, he wasn't about to sit behind and wait for it to find him, and, lo and behold, it had before he could find it.

This time it's found him in the form of a rambunctious young girl. Adventure found him, from the first time she leapt to her feet and seized him by the neck in an over-friendly hug, from ten minutes ago, when her good-morning call was in the form of dumping a bucket of ice water over his head.

Unlike Sora, he just doesn't consider people his friends off the bat - he recalls a time when Sora introduced him to his new friend, a cheery young girl who was more interested in watching them play fight than join in. He didn't like that sense of distrust she had - he never hurt a fly, no matter how rough their games got, and with this girl's reluctance to join their games, he sensed discomfort and indifference.

But then again, Riku had had it proven to him many times, that, in fact, he was a terrible judge of emotion. He spent years seeing a girl's crush - his crush's crush - on his best friend as a threat to his friendship with Sora, instead of as an innocent childhood game that he didn't have control of.

But perhaps Yuffie is a bit different - it's easy to predict when she'll blow, when she'll boil over. It's like cooking, sometimes - if you don't turn down the heat, sooner or later, the water's going to spill over the sides of the pot, staining everything in hot water and trouble. But at the same time, Yuffie's unpredictable, as he learned when he first tried to talk to her, when a friendly girl in a bad mood snapped, "You think you're just such hot stuff, don'tcha?"

Those words had probably scared him away at first, but he was never one to ignore a direct challenge. A chance at adventure that wouldn't have been more real if she extended her hand and pulled him into it.

And so they began the game. Argument here, argument there, childish disagreements about the simple things. She drove him nuts, but in a world where one was without friends, perhaps that was a good thing.

And somewhere along the line, she became a sort of companion. Not someone he would outright call a friend - after all, there were times he doubted her sneaky sense of sincerity, her sense of total disregard (once, there was a shameless moment where she srole a young man's wallet, stealthily, and spent the money inside it on a lunch out - he remembers being angry, but remembers laughing and accepting her invitation to join her, and feeling like a child who's taken a cookie without asking).

And there was the sense that he had too much to do - Sora was out there, looking for him. Kairi was somewhere. Everyone was somewhere. And he was stranded in a town, wishing himself anywhere but there, but remaining only because a cheery little mouse king had ordered it.

Some people can be your friends without even needing reason for it to be.

Why get involved with Yuffie - friendship, love, a casual fling or two (or three or four or five or a million, he told himself) when there was a million other things he had done to hurt old friends? Why take up new ones, when he was just bound to hurt them?

But Yuffie isn't thinking of that when she raises an eyebrow at the look that is no doubt brewing on his face, a look of confusion and wonder, and throws her arms around his neck to drawl, "Awww, don't think too hard, pretty boy, you might pop a brain cell."

He isn't sure if he smiles or stays the same at that, if he gets angry or not, but he figures that if he doesn't find adventure, adventure will find him, and the former is better than the latter. But he realizes that maybe it's been a bit of both - he found a way out, adventure put him in for more than he bargained for. He found a way to save a friend (misadventure, misadventure) and adventure found a way to corrupt him. He found a castle with darkness and mangled dreams, the adventure sent him truths and lies and pains and gains. He tried to take a stab at life, and adventure laughed in his face and life took a stab at him, but he always comes out on top in the end.

And, without a second thought, he pushes her down onto the couch, and kisses her.

Adventure finds him.


	11. Fearsome

**Title:** Fearsome

**Wordcount:** 987

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K

**Notes:** One from tonight's update - a bit of a chat on fears. Because we all have them.

**Fearsome**

Yuffie wasn't bedridden for long. In fact, the spunky ninja was moving around by the next morning - mind, she wasn't exactly moving fast, and she was already back in bed mere minutes after sneaking out. Leon and Aerith were both demanding that she rest, which was a task Yuffie _never_ completed, regardless of physical health.

"You guys suck royally," she pouted for the fifth time in forty-six minutes, as an irritated Leon hoisted her over his shoulder and carted her back to her room and a chuckling Riku followed.

And Yuffie was dropped back in bed, the covers were yanked over her, and she was given a stern, "Yuffie, you took a really rough hit, and we don't want you to injure yourself further through strain, so we'd really, really appreciate it if you could stay in bed for the next few days."

This did not sit well with her - as Leon left, shutting the door behind him, and Riku settled down on the floor next to her bed, she gave Riku a screaming fit and a verbal beating, taking out all her frustrations with being bedridden on him. He didn't deserve them - okay, maybe he did deserve the bit about him not helping her escape, but he wasn't about to help a badly-injured ninja girl with a limp, a gash across her stomach, and a sprained wrist escape bed-rest.

But Yuffie, never one to bear a grudge against a friend, forgave Riku approximately four minutes after she yelled at him.

He could not afford a few days of rest, in his opinion. As much as he cared for Yuffie, he couldn't sit around with her while he had to go kill Heartless and keep Traverse Town safe - but nor could he bring her with him, and he knew the moment he rose to go after them, Yuffie was going to take off with him whether he liked it or not.

"Rikuriku?"

His pet name stirred him from his daydreaming, lifting his head from her covers. He was seated on the floor next to her bed with his head near her pillow, her hands clutching his gently.

"Mmhm?" he said, opening his eyes to peer into questioning violet eyes.

"Ever wonder if we're all going to die?"

He didn't reply. How to phrase something like that? How to admit that to her? He thought it all the time, and in an age like this - nothing but the destruction and chaos of worlds dying, people disappearing, being separated from everything? It was rare for Yuffie to ever bring it up - she normally hated that type of talk. Sometimes she would even storm from the room whenever the subject came up, sometimes she would ignore them, and sometimes she would even fall into her own little world, where she acted like nothing was wrong.

Denial seemed to be the Kisaragi way of life sometimes.

"We all die eventually."

"I guess," Yuffie nodded silently, rolled onto her side to look at him. For once in her life, she was somewhat calm, though Riku could feel her legs moving at random under the covers, burning off energy. "You aren't scared, are you?"

He wasn't sure if she was teasing, or if she was joking, or if she was actually being serious. A dangerous fact about her, really - it was so easy to accidently push buttons, so easy to tip her over the edge if he didn't interpret exactly what she was thinking and meaning behind her words.

He wasn't scared - he was terrified.

He knew he was terrified of what would happen to everyone he affected.

Not terrified of darkness, not terrified of light - but terrified that he'd never set things straight in time.

"Are you?" he said, trying to figure out which it was. Yuffie rolled over again with a sigh, so she was flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling with a strange look on her face. Riku sat up straighter, frowning a bit.

"Sometimes," she said, her hand wringing his suddenly, and she turned back to him, leaning in closer, "I get really, really scared."

His nose was nearly brushing hers, and he could feel her breath on his lips.

"Why?" he said, holding her gaze with an odd sort of respect. Suddenly, he realized how perfect her nose was - cute, round, there, now brushing his entirely. This did not phase her, as much as it affected him.

"I can't stand being alone..." she said quietly, "if I was trapped in a room with a bad guy... I'd stand close to the bad guy, JUST so I didn't have to stand alone... so... if you ever died... I think I'd kinda be alone?"

He knew she wasn't thinking straight - he knew she wouldn't be alone, he knew she would have Leon and Aerith and Cid and everyone... but it was a huge rush to hear it. Without him, she'd be alone. Alone. Without _him._

Riku wasn't sure how to react - it just came naturally, pushing himself to his feet, hand taking her other hand and squeezing them tightly, leaning over her. She didn't resist as he knelt over her, leant down, and pressed his lips to hers. She remained still.

Yuffie pushed him off suddenly, breaking her hands free in one smooth twist of her arms, sitting up and pushing him to sit across from her. He stared at her in a mix of intrigue and rejection, and she just stared back with her mouth slightly open.

"Rikuriku," she said, blinking.

"Yuffie, sorry, I -"

Her hands reached out and settled on his cheeks, holding his face still, and with her thumbs, she forced his mouth closed, gingerly as to not upset her wrist too badly. He stared, her hand over his mouth. She just gawked.

"Ymuffm, pmeasme dmmt kmil me," he pleaded through his covered mouth, and was shocked as she shoved forward, reversing them and placing herself over him, one hand on his shoulder and the other other his mouth still.

Her knee was pressing against his thigh, and slowly, she took her hand from his mouth. He didn't say anything at first, then started again, "Yuffie–".

She covered his mouth with her own, effectively shutting him up.

And he kissed back.

And when they split apart, she smiled and cheerfully said, "So. What are you afraid of?"

Riku couldn't help but laugh.


	12. Sora

**Title:** Sora

**Wordcount:** 889

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K

**Notes:** Old friendships stay important forever.

**Sora**

"So... you and Yuffie, hmm?"

Riku feels a bit sheepish suddenly. The way he says it isn't exactly accusatory, but it sounds skeptical and half-teasing, much like everything else Sora says lately. That's the Riku-tone. That's the tone that Sora takes up to use on him for everything he says.

He knows he kind of deserves it - he wouldn't trust Sora if Sora had done all that shit to him.

Point is, though, he did it to Sora, not vice versa.

And though Sora acts like he's forgiven him, he knows there will always be that shadow of doubt, just like there's that tone of voice.

"Yeah," Riku says, forcing a grin, though inside he feels like flushing and denying it - he's reluctant to appear as anything but cool and awesome, in Sora's eyes - though he doesn't feel embarrassed about his relationship with Yuffie at all. He loves Yuffie. Yuffie's great, she's closer than others, she's incredibly spaced out at times but still down-to-earth when it counts most. He loves her because she's so imperfect and carefree and willing to be optimistic.

Some reasons, really, were why he used to love Sora.

"She's crazy," Sora says with a sort of grin, and the way Riku hears it makes it sound like Sora's egging him on. But they always did that - he isn't sure whether he welcomes good old Sora shoving at his nerves or feels weird about being treated the same way they were when they were kids. Not now, anyway. With everything that's happened, perhaps a bit of change is inevitable.

"Nah, just difficult to control," Riku chuckles, "she's pretty awesome whether she's ricocheting off the walls or not."

"She gave me my first scar," he replies, dragging up the sleeve of his jacket, shoving away the black fabric and colored belts to flaunt a thin white scar, faded and old with time. "At the coliseum, in the tourney. I swear, even after all those Heartless and stuff, she still managed to be the first to leave a lasting mark."

Sora's eyes wander up slowly, and a cheshire-cat grin spreads onto his face. Riku finds it funny how the kid - always shorter than him - is almost surpassing him in height now. But Sora's amused blue eyes do nothing but land on his neck.

"Obviously... she got you too."

Riku brushes his hand to his throat, and chuckles, tugging the collar of his shirt up higher, tugging on the zipper to conceal the mark - his temporary Yuffie mark, one of many he's had over time. She always insists on leaving one - it's her territory, their little inside joke, their little thing.

"Yeah, she did."

They laugh for a bit - like old friends, like the past two years haven't happened. And, really, Riku thinks his relationship - friendship, attachment, tie - with Sora never was lost - just on a slight detour.

Laughter fades. With nothing else to say at the moment - Ansem and possession, clones and betrayed, they are too big, too serious of topics for reunited friends - they stand in silence for a moment. Then, Sora comments again.

"What about Kairi?"

Riku's heard turns to stare at Sora, heart thumping. Kairi. _Kairi._ He still cared for her, he never _stopped_ caring for her - she was special. Kairi was sweet, Kairi was gentle, Kairi way spunky, she was the type of girl that would play princess to his knight. Princess, he realized some time ago, to _Sora's_ knight.

"She loves you, Sora."

It bothers him to say it - it nags at his heart, it drives him insane inside. But he smiles reassuringly at Sora, giving a flippant wave of his hand, like always. Brush it off, brush it off like nothing. Because it is nothing - _nothing he should dwell on_, just like Yuffie teaches.

"But Riku–"

"Nah," Riku cuts him off, one hand drifting to rest on his hip, "don't worry about it. It's better this way, anyway. We both are the heroes, we both got the girl in the end."

Sora looks doubtful for a minute, then grins and nods, giving Riku a playful shove, laughing like a lunatic. Riku chuckles, shoving back, and the two race down the hill outside of town, heading back towards Traverse Town's grand gates.

And Riku knows what friendship, while it takes a grand beating sometimes, won't even be smashed to bits - over light, darkness, or girls.


	13. Forward

**Title:** Forward

**Wordcount:** 1506

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K

**Notes:** I will understand if this story inspires hatred towards me. I'll make it up to all next time, I swear - but this one needs to be posted sooner or later, my dears :) And, also - I just want to say we've hit over 1000 reads, and that's certainly a huge, spectacular hit for me. The next story will most definitely reflect on that - but in regards to this piece, I have to say this is just another take I have on their relationship. It's possibly the take I hate most, but it's incredible to write it.

**Forward**

Pressure makes people do funny things.

Four hours after her fight with Riku - a fight that has left scars both emotionally and physically, Yuffie sits with Leon, sitting on the floor with her head against his knees, crying her heart out to the closest thing she's ever had to a big brother. Leon, who just sits in his chair, patting her head, fails, as usual, to offer comforting words. He, unlike Aerith, was never any good at that.

"I... don't get it..."

Yuffie is twenty. She hasn't cried like this since she was little - being tough and fearless and endlessly cheerful was her trademark, and rarely does she give in and cry, but some things are just worthy of the hot waves of angry tears.

It's been a full year since the last recorded Heartless sighting, a full year and a half since the last Heartless was bludgeoned from existence in Traverse Town.

"Things happen."

Leon's two words - the first two he's offered all night - are disgusting. They are intended to be, but Yuffie expects comfort, not fact, and it's difficult right now to remember that Leon will always be Leon, not anything like anyone else, who would wipe away her angers and fears with a reassuring lie.

Because that's all comforting someone is, really.

"But why did things happen!" she sobs into Leon's pants, the leather sticking to her forehead oddly, and his gloved hand - hidden and never bare, never friendly - the hand of a warrior - ruffles her hair still.

"Because."

"But because why!"

Riku's face is fresh in her mind, of course. She never dreamt she would be driven to such frustrations with the boy she had eagerly fallen in love with at the tender young age of fifteen. She had never considered a broken relationship with him - it was all hell or high water, all precious nights under starless skies, never once a fight, until recently.

"Because," Leon starts, "you met him in the middle of a war."

She is quick to anger, lifting her head to look up at him, his hand withdrawing from her head to rest on his lap, his blank grey eyes meeting hers, and she climbs to her feet.

"What's THAT supposed to mean?" she snarls, eyes narrowing so the tears well further, falling down her cheeks in another wave of hot splashes. "Are you saying we just jumped into something because it was a war?"

"Exactly," Leon says smoothly, visual unshaken, though the little sister in Yuffie knows her mentor is feeling much more than he looks. He always did that, didn't he? The world could fall to pieces again, the house could burn down around him, the rain could pour on his head and everyone in his life could die and Leon would just keep that same look on his face. But Yuffie knew that inside, he would be breaking and crumbling and shattering and oh gawd, she KNOWS he would act like it was nothing.

"We did not!"

"You did."

"DID NOT!"

She's acting immature, she knows it, but as she leans over Leon and clings to the front of his shirt with a steely grip, she doesn't really care. People will do that, overlook their behavior in times of emotional crisis. Yuffie's learned that well in her life. She's a victim of it herself, on many occasions.

"What's this?" Leon says, the slightest bit of frustration flickering in his eyes. He leans forward, pushing Yuffie back, and grasps her hand, peeling it from the collar of his shirt to hold it in front of her face, splaying her fingers. "Look at it."

Yuffie eyes the ring, the tears still flowing.

"So what!" she snaps.

"Recite them. The vows," Leon orders, and Yuffie can count the flecks of bitterness surfacing on his face. Never a full-blown reaction, just hidden hints it takes a well-trained eye to find. Yuffie shakes her head, closing her hand and looking away from the ring, closing her eyes, but she says it anyway, because she already knows what his point is, and admitting defeat is something she has to succumb to. And she knows it.

"We'll be together," she says shakily, "no matter what happens... we'll spend every moment in happiness, joy, regardless of what's happening... because we don't have much time left, and we have to spend it wisely..."

She trails off right there, leaving it there.

No one had expected light to win in the end.

**-x-x-**

"_Yuffie?"_

_"Yeah, Riku?"_

_"We don't have much time left."_

_"Huh?"_

_"Think about it for a sec. We could die, any moment now. Darkness would fall, and that'd be it, and we'd be nothing but two flecks in history, gone and destroyed and forgotten."_

_" ... I know. I just don't wanna think about it."_

_"What if the world came crashing down right now?"_

_"I'd wanna be with you."_

_"Yuffie?"_

_"Yeah?"_

_"We might not have that time."_

_"I think we will - light always wins in the end, right?"_

_"But... what if it doesn't?"_

_"Um..."_

_"Marry me."_

_"... seriously?"_

_"What if the world crashed down right now? And you never had that? I love you, you love me, and there might not be forever... screw age, marry me."_

**-x-x-**

Two seventeen year olds, hand in hand, tried to grow up too fast. In the wake of a quick relationship, and an even quicker chance at falling in love, people find that while it's possible to fall in love, it's also possible to fall out of love.

Not that they ever expected it to happen to them, either.

"Yuffie, I know it hurts."

She doesn't say anything, she doesn't look at him, she doesn't look at the ring, her ring, Riku's ring, their promise, none of it, none of it can be in front of her eyes.

"The war's over now."

Leon's being honest, his truthful statements, his powerful few lines that push her to be furious still. No comfort for her, none of it.

"Life was ending, cities were falling and dying every moment, and all across all the worlds, people were jumping into relationships and getting married and having kids, regardless of how shallow it was. Remember how the birthrates skyrocketed a few years after the attacks begun... well, you might have been too little, Yuff, but it did. It was something like eight hundred percent in Traverse alone, and it was a huge town to start with. Because when you can die any day... you want to experience it all as fast as possible, right then, in case you never get another chance."

And Yuffie slumps to her knees again, burying her face in her hands, forcing back tears that are going to come anyway.

"I'm really sorry, Yuffie."

Nothing matters when you're broken. It's just the present and the past that circles you, snaring you like barbed wire, clinging needfully. The hope for future is gone, it's just the mistakes that matter. Had she jumped headfirst into a mess? She loved Riku. Riku loved her. But, really, when two kids in the middle of an ending universe meet, click, and share a few intimate moments, share a few games and laughs, does that make it love?

How does someone who's never been in love before know exactly what love is supposed to feel like? How does one know it's love and not just a powerful infatuation?

Yuffie wonders.

"But don't forget what good times you had, huh?"

Yuffie looks up at Leon, who is looking at her with his head tilted, so his bangs fall into his eyes. And, forcing a typical smile, a cheeky grin, the tears still streaming, she says, though her heart breaks as she says it...

"Yeah. We had fun. And now, I have a future to look forward to, right?"

Right. She has it.

"You're still young," Leon says, and Yuffie detects the faintest sense of a smile behind those eyes, "don't go wrecking your life now... things can change, things can happen. You've still got many decades of life ahead of you, kiddo."

And Yuffie cries.

But she smiles at the same time, and, in one smooth movement, twists the ring from her finger and places it on another, taking one last look at it.

She wouldn't throw that away - she wouldn't stop wearing it, she wouldn't just leave it behind. Because it was part of her. But, as she gently eases it to face down, she smiles through the tears.

Because she's going to look forward, no matter what.


	14. Seeking Amusement

**Title:** Seeking Amusement

**Wordcount:** 3335

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** T

**Notes:** Well... :) The inspiration for this one came from a collection of photographs I found online. If your curiosity is piqued, I have provided a link for it in my user-info. Either way, I'm a bit iffy on how this one turned out, but I fear I have reworked it to death. But I do love the concepts and the imagery works well, I think. As for warnings, there's a bit of making out in this one, but nothing I'm sure most people aren't accustomed too.

**Seeking Amusement**

"You sure 'bout this?"

Riku gave a laugh, boosting himself up over the fence to join her. The old brick of the fence crumbled a bit under his weight, sending up clouds of rubble and dust, and he quickly leapt off of it before it decided to collapse completely. He landed with a dull thunk, and dusted off his hands.

"What," he replied smoothly, giving her a bit of a teasing look and cocking his head, lifting one eyebrow, "is little Yuffie terrified of being _caught_?"

"No," she shot back, jamming her hands deep into the pockets of her sweater, idly shuffling one foot in the dirt, "I just don't think it's very friendly. Besides. People say it's haunted. I don't like ghosts much."

He laughed again, as she casted a wary glance around the place, as if suspecting the nearest ghost to just wave at her and catch her attention. Then she gave him a look - sort of like amusement, but sort of frustrated at the same time - and he just grinned.

"Ah, but I'm here with you," he said, "I'll be your knight in shining armour, hm?"

She smiled, and said, "So if the scary clawed demons try to get me, you'll leap oh-so-bravely in front of them and save my terrified ass?"

"Damn straight I will," he grinned.

Giving a sort of smirk, she replied, "I'll take your word for it, then. No gettin' off the hook now."

Riku shrugged easily, sidling over to her and throwing his arm around her shoulders, leaning against her gently. He began to walk, and she went along with it with a slightly hesitation.

"I bet it was really friendly and pretty when it wasn't closed and worn down," Riku argued, pulling his flashlight from his pocket and turning it on for a moment, waving the beam around the abandoned courtyards. Old wooden stalls, empty and devoid of things, crowded the area with tall shadows from the last dying lights of the sky, a place that used to house games and prizes and food and thousands of happy people.

"Maybe," Yuffie replied, smiling faintly, "then again, they'd probably have a million, billion, gazillion lights to brighten up the sky and make it all nice and stuff to visit. I think I'd really like it if it was like that, and not like an old piece of crap."

"Hey," Riku laughed gently, "we've got a few flashlights, we'll be fine. And you never know, maybe we could hitch a ride on the ferris wheel, if it works or something."

"Doubt that," she smiled, pulling out her own flashlight and tapping him on the nose with it lightly, with a taunt of, "Aren't you afraid of heights, though?"

Through the fading light, he flushed a bit, and said, "You have enough courage for the both of us, you nutcase. If we get stuck at the top, are you gonna climb up and rescue me?"

"_Only_ if you let down your hair, Rapunzel," she teased back, ducking from his arm and jogging over to an old carousel, vaulting herself single-handedly over the line barriers. He followed as she hopped up to sit on the mechanical turnstile, lifting her legs over it and leaping down on the other side.

"It's not getting _that_ long," he replied, cavorting over to her to grab her around the waist, burying his face into her neck with a bit of a laugh, "you're the princess, not me."

She squirmed, ticklish, and stuck her tongue out, answering with a little, "Heeey, I'm not a princess!" He laughingly let go, falling to one knee in front of her and a pretty old carousel horse, offering her a boost that she evidently did not need out of sheer gentlemanly humour.

"Alright then, _your highness_," he taunted, "after you."

Yuffie pretended to place one sneakered foot on his head instead of his knee, but then stepped up onto his knee and seated herself sideways on the pony, folding one leg over the other in a pose of mock-royalty. He laughed at her haughty expression, and admired her for one moment. She was his tomboyish but still girly princess, in all her jean-clad and baggy-sweatered glory - seated upon a chipped and age-worn old horse, all the painted colours faded from wind and rain and years of neglect, the scuff marks from hundreds of children dotting its underside, the shoe-marks of children who had long grown up and joined the business world after the small amusement park went out of business. The wooden floor of the merry-go-round was water stained and cracked, creaking with every footstep. Bits of long grass shot up from around it, and the corroded steel poles that the horses remained mounted on flaked off red-brown chips of rust.

She, with her pretty face and bright eyes, contrasted so well with it all, yet at the same time, she matched it - the cuffs of her sweater's sleeves dotted with rips and holes (through which she often put her thumbs) and the hems of her jeans chewed up and dirty, as they were long enough to fall under her heels sometimes when she walked. He liked that - he liked it a lot.

"What'cha thinkin' about?" she asked after a moment of posing, both having fallen silent with nothing but smiles between them, her legs swinging idly and drumming the poor carved beast's side relentlessly with her heels.

"'Bout you," he grinned, straightening and moving around to the back of the horse, pretending to give it a shove, digging his feet into the ground and pushing. "Oh, Yuffie. You're so heavy that I can't get your horse to move."

She laughed, bopping him over the head, and he could see her smile from all angles, through the cracked glass of the mirrors that lined the center pillar of the carousel. The gears at the top that drove the horses up and down creaked as he managed to push it up higher a few inches. She clung to the tarnished bar, leaving umber stains on the white sleeve of her sweater.

"Maybe you just lack muscle," she shot back, turning in her seat to sit backwards on the horse. He could see the edges of the saddle pressing grooves into her thighs and the way her back bent when she leant against the bar. He gave her a teasing look, and jumped down from the carousel platform, grabbing the horse closest to the edge and giving it a tug, walking forward.

"Really? I'll show you _muscle_."

The entire machine gave a loud creak, and she giggled as it quickly shuddered to a halt again after a deafening cracking noise.

"You've broken it now," she snickered, and he returned to her side, grabbing her around the waist and dragging her from her horse, planting a kiss on her forehead and steering her away.

"Alright, alright, let's find something cooler... besides, carousels are for little kids," he chuckled. "Let's find a roller coaster."

Yuffie pointed at something else instead, a tall contraption with many arms and strange triangular pieces dangling from them at intervals. It took Riku a few seconds to figure out what it was, eyes wandering over the peeling tower in the center to the pronged arms, to realize that once, a canopy must have covered the top, and the triangular bits must have supported...

"Swings," Yuffie said with a half-gasp and a laugh, skipping over to it and stopping at the fence around it, giving a second's interest to the booth, skimming over the sign and instead choosing to examine the parts where the swings used to be attached. After a second of watching from a distance, she ducked through a gap in the fence and wandered out under it. Old wires dangled from it, the scrubby plants and weeds so tall and neglected that they sprouted between the cracks in the pavement, like curtains that reached over her head.

"I bet this was fun - you know, back when it was rideable," he grinned, and she seized his hand, lining him up underneath one. She stood next to him, under another, and he asked, "What are you doing?"

"We're going on the ride," she laughed, holding his hand still and walking forward, dragging him with her. In slow circles they rounded the pavement, ducking through weeds and brush, gradually getting faster and faster. He didn't mind - as silly as it was, as silly as it would look, she was laughing and giggling and smiling and twirling, and after a few moments of running in crazed swinging circles, she spun and hugged him around the waist, dragging him as close as possible to herself.

And he ran a hand through her hair, resting his chin on her forehead, and asked, "You like swings?"

"Nah," she replied, "they make me sick. But that... that one was a fun one."

"You're weird, Yuff."

"But you love me anyway."

And her lips brushed his jaw a few times, and he laughed, and in the extremely dim light of the sky, their flashlights abandoned in their pockets, they huddled together for a bare moment, before he turned her and pointed her gaze in the direction of the ferris wheel.

"Let's go over there."

He pulled out his flashlight again, guiding them through more brush and dirt and collapsing (or collapsed, he noted, as they passed another children's ride, one that had completely fallen in on itself. A giant faded-pink crown rested above it, with metal rungs and rotted wood bits underneath in a haphazard pile) rides over to the old thing.

Faded pink, blue and yellow bubbles on orange-stained white bars, connected and held together by old wires, was what it looked like. A sad, damaged affair, the ferris wheel, he figured, was about as old as the rest of the park, though, arguably, still in better condition than most. Perhaps that was just something about ferris wheels - slow, boring, lazy. Not something that many teenagers would like, not something that would easily amuse children. Something that was silly and trivial and simple.

But it lifted you places not often visited - and as nervous as Riku was around towering heights, he liked braving it, just so others wouldn't realize it unnerved him so much. He hated it when he was up there, but after he got back down, he liked the feeling of fear, that feeling of being on the edge.

And, he figured, as long as he was sneaking into closed-down old amusement parks with his girlfriend for the hell of it, he might as well take a risk here or there up in an old rusty machine that hadn't borne riders in decades, except the possible few stragglers, who, like them, snuck in.

There was a carriage a few metres above the ground, with the door ajar. Yuffie was quicker at noticing it than he was, and she pointed it out to him, and before he could protest, she was using a few crumbling old boxes as a stool. And when she had made it safely into the carriage, she offered a hand down to him, with a smile of, "C'mon, Riku, it's fun."

He climbed up.

The inside was shabby - a tree branch was lodged through a broken window, and Yuffie casually swept some glass shards from the seats with her foot and out the door. Then, she pulled it shut, fumbling with the extremely stiff door clasp, yanking it down to trap the door closed. Riku sat across from her, the benches too narrow for two, yet too wide for only one.

"Ahaha," she laughed, the dim light of her flashlight filtering through the foggy old glass of the remaining windows, highlighting her face in a spooky but somewhat amusing way - it made her nose seem bigger, her eyes thrown into shadow, her lips curled into a devilish grin. "Ahaha, Rikuriku, I seem to have you cornered now!"

She jokingly lunged across the carriage at him, landing with her arms around his neck, and the sudden shift of a balance was enough to swing the entire little room to one side, the joints on the roof giving a high rasp as it swung. Riku clung to a windowpane for support, eyes widening, his other arm clinging to her tightly.

"Now, now, Riku, I need my lungs to breathe, don't crush me," she teased, as the cart swung back and forth, a bit easier with every swing.

"Sorry," he said with a slightly nervous laugh, kissing her temple and ruffling her hair with his breath as he let out a silent sigh of relief.

"It'd be cool to make out here," she said, and it would have been an understatement to suggest that there was only faint hints and implications in her voice - and he found the idea wonderful. Well, he would have, if their carriage wasn't casually leaning back and forth. And when he opened his mouth to comment, she cut him off.

"Hey - takes my mind off of motion sickness, and yours off of heights. Win-win situation, plus we both get some action and shit," she offered. He couldn't help but chuckle.

"But what if the carriage falls?"

She just laughed again, lips covering his suddenly and there was a moment of soft, tender exploration. A feverish sort of heat washed over him instantaneously, and he responded without a conscious thought, her tongue playing against his lips, teasing them open. His hand roved over her behind, over thick denim seams he would rather not be there.

And without a thought, his hand left the safety of the window ledge and brushed her cheek, before changing direction and moving to the bottom hem of her sweater, pushing under it to feel the skin above her low-rise jeans. And his hand crept up further and further, pushing past the rim of her bra and passing his fingers over the top of one breast. He was sure his brain was being short-circuited by want, all of a sudden, and it took the last of his self-control not to just strip her there. By the way she pressed herself to him, their bodies aligned and mashed together so tightly, he was pretty sure she was thinking along the same lines.

He worked her sweater up anyway, faintly amused by the idea that she hadn't even thrown on a shirt, and pushed it up until it was just under her arms - he didn't even care about bugs, about how cool it was out, and neither did she, it seemed. But she straddled his thighs, and through the distinct lack of light, not counting the useless beams that were their flashlights, abandoned on the floor, he could see a cheeky smile on her face.

She paused between kisses, and pointed out the broken window, wary of the sharp glassed edges. He was too preoccupied with stroking her breasts, mouth at the curve of her neck, fingers gently playing over hardened nipples.

"Hey," she said softly, with a sort of smile on her face, "look at the stars."

He lifted his head to look out, and his eyes wandered briefly through the stars, over what they could see of the deserted fairgrounds. He imagined, briefly, what it would like decades go, with the bright lantern lights and the cheers and chatter of festival-goers, and the brilliant fireworks.

But none of that mattered.

"Beautiful," he said, and added with a slight air of impatience, "but who gives a flying fuck about the stars?"

"Exactly!" she said chirpily, grinning wickedly, "We don't."

"Tease, interrupting like that," he retorted, and chuckled, but the chuckle only reached her neck and he put his lips to her skin again, leaving a few small nips. And then his mouth returned to hers, and there was suddenly no need for slow, gentle exploration. It was instantly fast and furious, a slight tangle of limbs on the edge of an uncomfortable wooden bench, dried leaves crunching under his feet and it felt like fire, the heat between them unmeasurable.

"It's what I do," she said between kisses, in a pause for oxygen, one hand drifting along his thigh and across his hip, undoing the buckle of his belt without a single hesitation, undoing the top button of his jeans. Her arms moved away from him for the briefest second, so he could pull her sweater over her head, discarding it next to him on the bench. His lips worked quickly along her collarbone and down her chest, his fingers trailing across her spine and resting on her bra clasp, jerking it open with little regards to damaging it.

And, with sly, sneaky fingers, she managed to work his shirt up without him even noticing, but he hardly gave her to time to get it completely off, as he was much too involved in caressing her bare torso and kissing and licking and nipping along her chest. Her small moans and gasps delighted him, and it delighted him even further, especially as she dragged down his jeans when he lifted his hips a bit, bracing his back against the seat, ignoring the tree branch digging in uncomfortably from there.

Then the carriage rocked hard enough to startle them - not by the motion back and forth, but the sudden plunge downwards as there was a loud metallic screech and a thunk. Riku's heart jumped into his throat as they were temporarily lifted into the air, only to drop down at a sharp speed.

They landed with a loud crunch and a bang, shattering a few wooden cartons. It rolled, too, throwing them upside-down and to the side, so that they landed with Yuffie quite uncomfortably sprawled and squashed along the top - which was now the bottom - of the carriage, and Riku half on top her, on his side next to her, but his arm and leg slung against her. She winced, giving out a sort of moan of pain instead of pleasure, and he gave a choke, crawling to his hands and knees.

"This is why I hate heights," Riku said, helping Yuffie up and trying to locate her sweater, her bra, something. Mood ruined, head sore in the back and his shoulders aching from the impact. She didn't say anything, merely rolling over and propping herself up with one hand, clutching her head.

"This is why I hate moving things," Yuffie echoed, drawing one hand across her chest. He ignored the fact that his pants were somewhere just above his knees, looking around in the complete darkness for anything - their flashlights were somewhere, somewhere...

And then a bright light shone in through the window. Yuffie yelped, hugging Riku to herself, and Riku narrowed his eyes and lifted an arm under the glare of the bright lamp.

The owner of said light gave a rough chuckle, and Riku squinted to see the owner's face. He could see it, vaguely... and when the light was moved, the grim old face of a blond police officer was thrown into sharp relief. Yuffie stared, eyes wandering to his badge, and Riku gave a sort of groan.

"Eh... you kids, constantly gettin' in shit. But I have to say this is the most amusing case I've seen all month. Regardless... this is trespassing and destruction of public property."

Riku didn't say anything.

Yuffie didn't say anything.

The police officer didn't say anything, but he did give a smirk.


	15. Felt Like Goodbye

**Title:** Felt Like Goodbye

**Wordcount:** 86

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K

**Notes:** Drabble. I... just needed to do something simple. Something easy. Something breakable. Shortest thing yet, ne?

**Felt Like Goodbye**

"It's just something I've gotta do, Yuffie."

She cried.

"But g-going away... you... R-R-Riku... if you and Sora _seal_ it..."

He didn't turn away.

She wanted him to, just like in the movies, like when the charming hero can't bear to look at the heroine in his final moments, and he has to look away to bear the pain.

But he didn't.

"I know. And we'll never see each other again."

He cried, too.

And then he kissed her, slow and deep.

It felt like goodbye.


	16. Language Barrier

**Title:** Language Barrier

**Wordcount:** 647

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K

**Notes:** Over the summer, we had a Japanese transfer student stay with us for a while - her name was Mao, and she really became like a second sister to me. Meeting her, though, and getting to know her, was really interesting, because while she knew some English, it wasn't exactly enough for a big conversation. Baby steps. Some things made it easier :)

**Language Barrier**

The first time Riku met her, she had dropped her books in the hall. It was his fault - he had been talking with Sora, walking backwards to face his friend, and he ran smack dab into her - and after waving Sora to class, he had stopped to help her.

She had done nothing but give a yelp and a gasp when her books and pencil-case tumbled from her arms, and falling to her knees, she quickly started to stack up her books again. He dropped down next to her, grabbing her pencil-case and scooping up various pencils, erasers and other knickknacks, shoving them back inside the bag.

He picked up one book that was out of her reach, and their eyes met briefly as he passed it to her. Soft, almond-shaped eyes in a warm brown colour, thick black eyelashes and a perfect little smile. Asian, petite. She said softly, with a cheery voice, "Thank you." Her accent was apparent.

"You're welcome," he said, and her smile widened. She stood up, smoothing the front of her jeans, and picked up her things. She gave a slight nod, a bob of her head, and he smiled back.

"I'm sorry for bumping into you, I mean, I wasn't looking where I was going," he said smoothly, "I shouldn't walk like that, I guess. Sorry."

She blinked a few times, and then smiled again, giving a enthusiastic "Okay!"

It seemed a bit odd to him, the way she answered. Did that normally count as a full answer? I'm sorry/okay? Not an "it's okay, don't worry about it?" And as his eyes dropped to the book in their hands - a colourful little thing with complicated writing of various brushstrokes - something clicked in his mind.

"You're that transfer student people've been talking about," he said, "the Japanese girl."

She didn't answer for moment, and then she nodded, giving a gesture to herself, one hand hovering over her chest, she grinned and said, "Transfer student. From Japan. Can you please speak slower?"

The way she said it was staccato, each noise like a separate word. He felt a bit awkward for a moment, standing in the middle of the hall, among the bustle of the average American high school, lockers slamming here and there, students milling around at random.

"Sorry," he said, then paused, and left a small space between each word, "for... bumping... you."

She giggled, and nodded. Riku's eyes wandered over the bright yellow clips in her hair, shaped like little stars, which were doing practically nothing to aid in holding back her thick bangs. With the same accent and detached speech pattern, she said, "Thank you for help. My name is Yuffie. It is nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," he replied, still dragging out the words awkwardly. "I'm Riku."

"It is nice to meet you, Riku," she said, and offered her hand. He took it, and was surprised when she gave him a firm, bouncy handshake, making his wrist bob up and down quickly with her energetic grip. Stereotype would have made him think she was meek and subdued, but this... Yuffie... evidently was nothing of the sort. She grinned. She looked up at him cheerfully, digging one toe of her shoe into the ground, books in one arm and her other hand was placed cheekily on her hip.

There wasn't much else he could say - no short conversation, nothing. She was a complete stranger. Yet, somehow, he felt himself wanting to say more. There was something interesting about her. Something... something there.

And when he said nothing, and did nothing but stare, she smiled again, and gave him a nod and a wink. And, as she turned on her heel and skipped off to class, Riku couldn't help but think one thing.

At least everyone smiled in the same language.


	17. That's Why

**Title:** That's Why

**Wordcount:** 2024

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K

**Notes:** Nothing much to say right now, but I am still glowing with how much people care about this little collection. Love you all!

**That's Why**

Riku fully intends on his disappearance to be silent, anti-climatic, and as simple as it can possibly be.

Thus, his aim is to leave late at night. That is why it is four in the morning. That is why it is still dark out. That is why he's packing his sole bag with as much caution as possible, with so much care that even the slightest creak or breath makes his heart jump into his throat.

He doesn't want to make a scene about it. He knows what the reaction would be if he boldly stormed out without a care. He knows that he would be most likely tied to chair until his urge to rebel settled down. He shouldn't be reckless. He shouldn't tempt danger. But he's going to anyway, because he feels like he can't afford sitting around on his rear end while Sora and Kairi are somewhere out there.

He hasn't seen Sora face-to-face and uncorrupted for a year - but if don't count the times when Sora's been sleeping, then it's been three years. Three horribly deranged, tumultuous years.

Riku doesn't want to leave, but he's going to, whether they like it or not. He doesn't want to endanger himself or disobey the King's orders, or abandon what has come to be like a second family to him. But he feels he has to. He can't live without a care until he's found Sora, and sorted everything out, no matter what that takes. Screw "Sora is looking for you" and "Sora will come here eventually."

He always would rather play Seek instead of Hide.

And that's why he went to bed early. That's why he pretended to sleep until everyone else had retired for the night. That's why he had written a note in secret, and taped it to the underside of his desk, so that not even Aerith, in her quest to wash all the bedsheets, would find it slipped between the mattress and the boxspring. That was why he didn't pack until right before leaving, so no one would suspect he was readying to leave.

It isn't the stupidest thing he's ever thought of, but it's pretty high up there. Logical things like "Stay in one place when someone's trying to find you" and "do what the all-wise, powerful mouse-king is telling you" don't stick in his brain for more than a second, and he hardly registers the fact that he's leaving people - energetic, bright people who he cares about more than he would ever let on - because it would be silly to let something like that hold him back, regardless of whether it's logical or not.

He crams everything he can fit in his bag while still leaving room for snacks and bottled water. He doesn't know where he's going, and doesn't know when he'll run across those next. But, still, some things manage to get left behind. His yellow-and-black shirt, his waders and his jeans, the things he had been wearing when this whole damn thing started, are to be left behind. He has long outgrown those - the wader buckles don't quite reach his belt anymore, his shirt's too tight and short enough that it shows midriff, and his jeans don't reach his ankles. And as much as he wants to keep them with him - memories, really - he can't afford the space it costs.

But they'll be there for him when he gets back.

_If_ he gets back.

But he does afford a mere one-and-a-half inches square for something of Yuffie's - a ring. But not one of those dainty little rings, perhaps made of silver and encrusted with a precious gem of some sort. It is a Yuffie-ring. Bulky, made of plain metal. A brass knuckle, of sorts. It is what she was wearing when she landed her first hit on him the first time they ever sparred - and even if the memory fades, Riku doubts the mark it left ever will.

Bag packed, finally, he slips from his room and into the kitchen. His hand flutters over the light-switch for a brief moment, but he doesn't flick it, out of better judgement. He has no room for mistakes.

After all that time spent baking - and god, did they ever bake a lot - he knows all the cupboards like the back of his hand. Within moments, he has successfully raided the cupboards of every granola bar, snack package, bottle of water or anything else he can find that can be of some use to him. The zipper is awfully tight by time he finishes packing, but he's fairly sure the backpack is well used to it. It used to be Yuffie's - well, it is Yuffie's. Riku is just... "borrowing" it for the trip - and as the ninja girl was often filling it to the seams with shuriken and kunai and neko-te and various other tools of her trade, all delicately wrapped in cloth for protection, he's seen the poor bag threatening to burst at the seams before, and it has, more or less, learned to accommodate the strain.

And he feels a bit sorry and sentimental at that moment, and vaguely wonders if Yuffie will hate him forever and ever ("And ever and ever and ever," her voice in his head screams) for ditching them like this.

He places the note on the counter, counting the steps from the stove. He has it all memorized - the past two weeks, he has been counting steps as he walks, to prepare for when he has to move through the complete darkness to find things and escape from their house forever.

And, hesitantly, Riku rests his hand there, on the counter, the note of apology underneath his palm, faintly warm compared to the cool countertop. He lets out a long breath, careful not to be too loud, and checks double-checks everything mentally.

Clothes. Check.

Food. Check.

Soul-eater. Check.

Water. Check.

Note. Check.

Toothbrush and that shit. Check.

Some paper and pencils. Check.

No verbal goodbye.

... a slight hesitation, there.

Check.

And he turns to go, but, suddenly, something dark and unseen slides around his wrist, freezing cold and claws digging into his wrist, and he almost screams as he grabs the Soul-Eater from his belt-loop, but something is muffling his mouth with the other hand.

And the light switches on as he's about to drive his Soul-Eater through the head of whatever Heartless that's about to spill his blood. He almost kills it, but it tries to kill him first, it seems, and it plunges off the counter and slams him into a wall, knocking the wind from him.

And, knowing he's about to die, he just looks up, in a pair of angry, violently-violet eyes.

"Where are you going?" she says, voice low and deadly. Her hand slips from his mouth, but remains on his jaw, as if ready to shut him up again at any moment. He isn't sure what to reply - anything like "for a walk" sounds incredibly stupid and dishonest even in his head. He doesn't say anything - instead, he struggles to bring oxygen back into his lungs and to his brain, so he doesn't die from being _frightened_ to death.

"You... can't come with me," he replies, matching her tone in frustration. Fuck. _Fuck_. As if he doesn't have enough unneeded thoughts about abandoning them that are becoming harder and harder to oppress, but now she's here, in the flesh, going to make it all harder.

He can hear her heart thumping in her chest, so close to him, and she says, "I never asked that, dork."

Her nicknames make him both soften and anger even more, and he shoves her off, pulling strength into his limbs and moving out from under her. He doesn't say anything - but he can feel the flush in his face and he has to grit his teeth so he doesn't do anything wrong. He doesn't want her angry with him. It's the last thing he wants.

But leaving her is something he just has to do.

After a moment of silent struggle, Yuffie standing in front of him and moving back and forth like a crab as he tries to duck around her. He can see the front door over her shoulder - he can feel something clawing at his lack-of-heart and pulling him behind. Like his missing heart is trying to start caring, again.

But it can't. He can't let it now.

"Move, Yuffie," he says, and she looks up at him with shining angry eyes, still blocking his path. "This is something I have to do."

"Leon said NO. King Mickey said NO. Aerith said NO. Cid said he didn't care. I say NO!" she replies, and every bit of childishness in her is surfacing out of panic, it seems. She clings to him suddenly, arms around his waist, burying her face against his neck and trying to root him in place.

There is another moment of silence, of cold, cool collection. He can't breathe like this. He can't think - there are places he must be, and people he must find, and misadventures to conquer. It's something that, if he doesn't do, he'll never be able to sit around doing nothing ever again. It'd be impossible. Just... implausible.

"Do you think I'd leave," Riku says finally, "if my path didn't lead me back again?"

She won't get it, he knows. She won't understand the symbolism. She won't know he's spoken that line to many people, but has never meant it in this way before. She won't know that he'll miss her smile, and her excellent attempts at cheering him up. She won't know that she's somewhere on the path of dawn. But, he knows, she'll understand. In the very way that Yuffie misses the main point, but always manages to find the underlying message.

And she lets go and moves back, sinking against the counter and looking away. And he goes on his way, hesitantly. But he pauses at the door.

He pulls out his house-key, dangling on its black cord tie, from his pocket. He holds it out for her to see, and then tosses it to her. She catches it with ninja reflexes, glaring at it for a moment.

"You'll let me in when I get back, right?"

"If I'm not still pissed at you, jerk," she says, a bit resentfully.

"When are you gonna forgive me?" he asks, honestly. She makes it difficult - _so _difficult - to even think of leaving like this. Taking off immediately. Ditching them.

"Well, Riku," she replies, and then pauses, to smile at him, "when you get back, I will, I guess."

He's not sure if it's a genuine smile - if there is anything Yuffie can lie about with a straight face, it is a smile. But he will take it as real, because there is no time to fret about such things. He has - no, he _wants_ - to find Sora, and apologize for everything. He wants Sora to forgive him. And as long as Yuffie will forgive him too, he can be content with it. She is his sunshine through the rainstorms. She's taught him that he can't sit around beating himself up, and he doesn't intend on taking her advice for granted.

That's why he's walking out the door, when he doesn't have to. That's why he could have gone back to his bedroom, and waited just another few minutes - perhaps Sora would walk in and find him, and he wouldn't have to sit around feeling guilty anymore. That's why he's leaving them. That's why he's leaving her, without actually saying "goodbye". He isn't sure what Leon, Aerith or Cid will say, or what Mickey will do when he finds out.

That's why he'll go back.

Sooner or later.


	18. A Brilliant Clash of Clashes of Clashes

**Title:** A Brilliant Clash Of Clashes Of Clashes

**Wordcount:** 2256

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K+

**Notes:** Wow. It's a huge load of my brain to get this huge clump of random... THOUGHT off my head. I like this writing style. It's delusional but oddly relieving for me to write.

**A Brilliant Clash of Clashes Of Clashes**

"What do you think of me?"

The question churns up a chaotic flutter of thoughts in Yuffie's mind - like a tornado of butterflies, some thoughts lasting, some crashing and burning almost immediately. A part of her brain stays focused on the old wood underneath her body, an age-worn picnic table, but the rest is more concentrated on the question at hand - a complicated big-little question that's going to consume her mind for eons, now.

So she tells him everything she thinks.

Yuffie thinks a lot of things about Riku. She thinks he's handsome - hell, he's got looks that could knock the socks off of many girls. He knocks off her socks. Quite literally - yesterday, he stepped on the toe of one as she tried to walk across the room, and off went the sock. Knocked. Ridiculous, really, but Yuffie's mind is like that.

She really likes Riku - she thinks he's nifty and spiffy and cool and all those other Yuffie-words, she likes the way he grins, sometimes, and the way he looks when he thinks no one's looking. And she likes how bendy-flexible-ish he is when he fights, the way he twists his sword around like nobody's business and he throws his weight to one side. And the way his shoes squeak on the clean floors when they're wet. It's spectacular. It's fantasmic. It's a bazillion times pretty and soft and gawd-damn-well joygasmic, because she can make up words for how she likes him it she wants, she likes him that much.

But she thinks he's awful stupid sometimes.

Because she could smack him and slap him and kick the ever-lovin' shit out of him, and he still wouldn't realize how retarded he sounds, sometimes, waxing poetic about darkness and light and how it's all difficult and how quickly they're all gonna die.

She isn't gonna be like that, not now, not ever, she knows, 'cause every time she looks in the mirror, she just sees plain old (young?) Yuffie, who lives each day not because she has to, but because she can. She sees a cute (in her honestly humble small but totally important opinion) nose that's slightly upturned, and big shining eyes, and a scruffy mop of black hair that's cropped at her neck, 'cause, gawd, if it were any longer, it'd be a rat's nest of unruly tangles.

But if Riku - pretty boy, with less brains than he lets on, but more brains than anyone could ever expect from an arrogant kid of his age - ever shut up for a moment, and glanced in that damned mirror, he probably would see someone he hated. Well, close - not totally that - but he'd probably be pretty pissed with himself. Anyone with a tiny bit 'o compassion and guilt would feel bad about the crazy shit he's pulled. And Yuffie oh-so-damn-clearly can see him in her head, with his forehead pressed against the mirror and his eyes open and staring, just examining himself through those just-slightly-eerie-but-totally-spiffy eyes, 'cause in the only novel Yuffie's ever finished, it seemed apparent that soul-searching just doesn't work the same with skin than it does with eyes.

She can't stand eyes sometimes, not because they're so easy to harm and delicate and shit, but because they're covered. To be more specific, she can't stand eyelids, 'cause she doesn't like the dark, and every single blink is like that - fragments of darkness. Blink. Dark. Blink. Dark. If only for a millionth billionth of a second, but it's still darkness, oh yes.

But she likes that she can face the light and close her eyes, and everything turns red and blue and green and orange and oh, gawd, look at all the pretty colours, everywhere, melding and glowing. 'Cause that's what light is, it's just a pocketful of sunshine and you have to make the rest up as you go along.

So she tells him all this, in a rushed, rant-y sort of voice, as she lies on her back on the picnic table, eyes closed (but her vision is orange) as she faces the sun, hearing nothing but the park around her. Riku's left tricep is brushing her wrist, because her arms are above her head, and he's sitting on the bench with his back against the tabletop - she can imagine the squarish groove that would mark his back underneath his red sweater, and vaguely wants to find it with her fingers, running her calloused little hands over his spine. But maybe the groove wouldn't be there, because not everything Yuffie imagines is true, because he might not be sitting that firmly against it to leave a mark. It's trivial, but it crosses her mind long enough to be pinned down with words.

Physical, mental, emotional, whatever. They all leave marks, but Yuffie thinks the physical ones are the coolest, because you don't have to convince people to let you know they exist. Emotional ones are harder, 'cause you have to know why someone acts like they do, to know why they act like that. But mental ones, those are the hardest, 'cause it's like trying to climb into a space smaller than you are. As much as some people try, it's just impossible to get that far into someone's mind. Yuffie knows she'll never figure it out, even if she thinks she can at least try. She's cool like that. Spiffy.

She can't climb into Riku's head, and find out why he acts the way he does.

But she likes all the tiny white scars on her fingers and palms, from where she's slipped up with shuriken in the past. She likes the mark just under her right arm, where, once-upon-a-magic-fairy-tale-but-not there was a Nightmare that slashed her just before she sliced its ugly head off. It's silly, it's trivial, but they exist and she can see them so clearly, and they're her marks and hers alone. Conquered mistakes. Proof of perfection. One little thing that separates her from everyone else.

Once, she asked Squall - but call him Leon, he likes that more, probably because too many people asked how to spell S-Q-U-A-L-L - why he hated that clean little scar across his face. He told her it was because people always asked awkward questions about where it came from, or pitied him for it. That's why he was so glad it was fading with time - no longer bright pink-red, but a raised white. She always teased him that the wound had caused severe brain damage, and that was why he was so dumb sometimes. She teased that it was pretty, and he snapped at her, and when she said she wanted one of her own, he forbade her.

"Do you really think that about me?" he says suddenly, as she pauses for a breath (can't be hyper-ventilating now, that'd be just so silly and childish) and she opens her eyes, tilting her head back enough to see into his eyes. He's looking at her like something matters, like he's upset, but his eyes look curious and his nose looks frustrated and his temples look like temples normally do. She notices these little things - she misses the fact entirely that the grass is green and that the sky is blue, but she knows that Riku's bangs fall (a little bit stupidly) into his eyes in exactly nine places, though four are actually over his ears.

"Yup," she replies, still breathless, taking a deep inhalation of air into her lungs, so that her ribcage arches under her skin - but not really, because bones don't move like that - and the fabric of her t-shirt creeps up her midriff. She doesn't tug it down, because Yuffie just doesn't care about shit like that.

"Huh," Riku says, but it isn't a question. It isn't that type of "Huh?" that Sora says all the time, like he's confused and perhaps a bit dropped-on-head-as-child, but it's just a statement. Huh. Huh. Yuffie repeats him, just because she can, and her thought process spirals out for a brief moment. There is nothing to think about. And then, suddenly, it sparks anew.

"It's all true," she says, and she continues to tell him how she thinks he looks awful-handsome in the light like that, and she wishes he would grin for her just there, but she doesn't care all that much and won't mind if he doesn't because if he didn't, because she's maybe being a bit too mean to him now. Maybe he won't talk to her for a while. Maybe he'll storm away. Maybe he'll frown and act all grievously injured, like he's has a splinter the size of a mail box dragged from his chest, when really, she just told him he's too pretty when he angsts and he maybe ought to smile more. (Among another things. Oh, Yuffie, you are too cruel.)

Maybe he'll just be Riku.

And she tells him all of that, too, and doesn't mention how she thinks he won't "lay" her tonight, because that's only a bit crude. But she does anyway, after a moment, because she can and because it's the truth. She likes getting laid - perhaps more than he does, because sometimes he's too busy doing time-consuming things like thinking or breathing instead of loving, and she just thinks he's too wound up.

He needs to loosen.

Uncoil.

Soften.

Because she likes soft people, the same way she likes hard people. She likes the way Aerith - a girl she's always considered a sister and a mother and a nurturer - is soft and huggable and Yuffie can blab to her forever about girly things, because she doesn't laugh the same way that Leon and Cid do when she acts like a girl. Aerith is comforting. Aerith is soft.

But, the same way, Leon is soft, because while he can be a right-royal-cold ass sometimes, he's soft when he smiles (once in a blue moon, once in a lifetime, don't blink or you'll miss it...) and it's gorgeous. Leon - big bro Leon, here to save Yuffie from whatever evil she doesn't want to be saved from - who will act like all he wants to do is be alone, but he'll get upset if you ditch him entirely. Leon who is soft when he can afford it.

And Cid, who is rarely soft, but likes her anyway, and who chuckles oh-so-warmly when she swears and Aerith corrects her, because he taught her and he's proud and she learnt it all from him. The one who gets all frustrated when a girl cries, because he doesn't know "what the fuck he's supposed to do" and he just hugs her awkwardly, and he's soft, if only for a moment.

Because her family is a soft bunch, no matter how hard and shelled and trapped-under-layers-of-metal they seem, at times.

And Riku just seems to look at her, and she sees a bit of confusion in his mouth, and perhaps, in his mind, he's fretting over her rambles.

"Oh."

And that's all he says for a moment, and she watches him say it, short and curt, because it's fascinating to see the way his lips bent and his jaw moves down slightly. Skin's funny like that, like rubber, but not. Only rubber isn't delicate and doesn't feel things like the sensation of flesh-on-flesh, like lips and kisses, and the tiny bit of lip gloss he's wearing, only because it was hers first, dammit, and he stole it from her lips with one searing kiss. Skin doesn't care about the logistics of that - as long as it keeps your guts in, it's happy.

She tells him everything because she doesn't feel any shame in him knowing what's on her mind - and it pours like water-over-ceramic from her mouth, rolling off her tongue all lazy-like. She could be wearing nothing but her bright red socks and she would still feel completely unabashed and shameless.

"Alright."

And then, loud and clear, she asks if he's going to be angry with her, or whether he's just going to kiss her breath away like he usually does. He looks at her eyes and he turns in his seat, so he's sitting on one heel and he's sort of leaning over the table. He looks at her kind of like a guy (Yuffie thinks) would examine a girl, with his eyes wandering over her small chest and down to her hips, finally resting on her eyes.

He grins, then, with his lips parting and flaunting his teeth, and she wants to run her tongue along his lips and kiss his mouth until it bruises. The grin is big, mischievous, and she knows he is up to something immediately, and that something is brewing in that pretty old (young?) head of his.

So she beats him at her game, because she's always the one who insists on holding onto the dice and cards, while the rule-book likes unattended, because no one likes rules, especially Yuffie.

She kisses him.

And with a whisper and a smirk, she tells him.

"Because that's everything I like 'bout you."


	19. Freudian Slip

**Title:** Freudian Slip

**Wordcount:** 721

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K+

**Notes:** Oh god I hate freudian slips, but they're so fun at the same time.

**Freudian Slip**

Yuffie laughs, her arms slipping around his neck and her nose brushing his. His arms around her waist, supporting her weight, she kicks her heels up and giggles as he twirls her. It's a lovely thing, really. Her laughter.

And then she asks, teasingly, after stealing a kiss, "So, how many girls have you kissed?"

Riku laughs, and replies, "How many boys have you kissed?"

And he's greeted with a cheeky, "I asked you first," and she puts her weight down again, her knee bumping his, bare toes on his.

"Eight," he replies, and kisses her cheek again, and she gives a mischievous "ooh", licking her lips and nuzzling his neck. He tilts his head back briefly, and says, "Your turn."

"Oh, someone got around," she purrs, and adds, "Other than you, two."

"Heh," he chuckles, "nah. There were just lots of girls at my school. We played spin the bottle at a party one night, and I ended up kissing a lot of girls, 'n made out with Selphie Tilmitt - y'know, that girl I told you about."

"The train-girl," Yuffie replies, and Riku collapses onto the couch, pulling her with him and pinning her under his grip. She rolls with him, letting him maneuver her under him, one leg casually curling around his waist and her arms still around his neck, hugging his head against her neck. He laughs.

"Yeah, train-girl. Everyone else's just random girls. Not much special," he pauses, and then says, "Well, except Kairi, she wasn't random or not-special. So who have you kissed?"

"Well," she says, pausing, "well, there was this boy at school - but he's like, four years older than I am, and it was kinda a mistake thing, kinda hard to explain. I fell down the stairs and he caught me, so I kissed him. Hell, I don't even remember his name."

She pauses again, Riku just smiles, and she says, "And Sora."

"You kissed _Sora_?" he asks, raising an eyebrow, and added, "why?"

When she says nothing, he moves one hand to her waist and creeps it up under her t-shirt, and tickles her. She squirms and giggles, trapped under him, and he says, "Tell me or I'll tickle you to death."

"Fine!" she gasps after a moment of deranged laughter and tickling. He stops, grinning ear-to-ear and brimming with curiosity, "fine! He was all sad over you 'n Kairi, so I kissed him. And he kissed back like an idiot, then he walked away all confused-like, and asked, "Does this mean we're friends?" and I said no, and he said, "What the?" and I laughed and threw an apple at him and he caught it and then we had a sparring match and it was totally random."

He laughs, and he traces the shape of her face with one hand, tucking her bangs behind one ear. Her ankle rubs the back of his thigh, and he can feel every breath and every heartbeat from her chest.

"You wanna know something?" she giggles suddenly, giving a smirk and kissing his forehead, toying with his hair mindlessly.

"Hm?"

It comes like a whisper, and she giggles quietly, "Sora kisses like a cross between a goldfish and a St. Bernard dog."

Riku doesn't quite think, and he laughs loudly, and says, "Yeah, I noticed that too. He slobbers a lot. He needs practice."

And Yuffie falls silent, staring at him, and Riku slowly realizes his mistake, and Yuffie says, "Wait, wait. Sora's a girl? I kissed a GIRL?"

Riku bursts out laughing, though he feels his face flush, and he knows that if this was any other person, he would be dying of embarrassment. Freudian slips are painful sometimes, he supposes, but this one is more funny than anything - not that he wanted to let that on, but he knows Yuffie'll understand and/or accept it to some extent.

"No," he grins, "but I did say we played spin-the-bottle, huh?"

And Yuffie snickers, and teases, "I always knew you were weirder than the average guy, Rikuriku."

"Sure," he laughs.

And then, to shut up her lovely little laugh, he kisses her, covering her mouth with his own.


	20. A Last Ditch Effort

**Title:** A Last Ditch Effort

**Wordcount:** 504

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K+

**Notes:** Yeah, what Yuffie does here? Drives. Me. Nuts. However, I am back from the anime con and the accompanying cosplay events (I went as Yuffie, of course, and I DID meet my Riku! ;D) so the updates should go back on their semi-regular schedule now. Thank you for your patience.

**A Last Ditch Effort**

_Chomp, chomp, chomp. Chomp!_

Riku puts down his book in his lap. Calmly, he waits, staring at the lines of text on the novel's first page, ears listening carefully, his mind incapable of focusing on the pages with such noises in the background. That noise. That incredibly irritating noise.

_Chomp, chomp. Chomp-chomp._

Riku looks up, slowly.

_Chomp. Chomp! Chomp-chomp-chomp..._

"Yuffie."

_Chomp chomp..._

The irritating "chomps" cease for one glorious moment, giving way to a cheery, "Huh?" and then resume again, munching out their incredibly perky rhythm. Riku grinds his teeth together, fingers curling around the spine of his poor, abused paperback, nearly bending it in the process. Concentration, it seems, is impossible with her here, lazing on the floor behind the couch, munching on chips.

"That's really irritating."

_Chompity chomp..._

"What's irritatin'?" she asks, slinking up behind him and leaning over the back of the couch, slipping her arms around his neck loosely, but tight enough that he has to lift his head so he won't choke to death. She grinds a few _chompchomps_ into his ear, and he can smell the salt and vinegar on her mouth.

He just about smacks her with the book, but chooses not to.

_Chomp, chomp. _

"That noise," he tells her loudly, "do you really need to chew that loudly?"

She swallows her mouthful of chips, and raises an eyebrow, and whispers into his ear a few rude obscenities about how he's too stuck up and his poor pretty boy image doesn't click with a few oh-my-gawd-so-fattening-exclamation-mark chips. He glares.

She grabs a handful of chips, and bites into it.

_Chomp, chomp._

He scowls at her, and reaches over, grabbing a few chips and popping them into his mouth. He chews them quietly, and when she stares at him blankly, he says, "See? They can be eaten without making that much damn noise."

She blinks again, and pops another chip into her mouth.

She bites down on it slowly, with a quiet crunch and nearly silent chews. Then, slowly, she swallows.

_Chomp._

"Thank you," he says with an exasperated tone, and turns away, opening up his book. His eyes settle on the first line - it is a dark and stormy night and the hero of his novel is valiantly saving his lady fair, and––

_Crrrrrrrrrrrunch._

He doesn't say anything for a moment.

_Crrrrrrrrrrrrrunch._

Without a thought, he dives violently over the top of the couch, and tackle-dives into her, wrestling her to the floor between her giggles and his growl of frustration, covering her mouth with his in a last ditch effort to shut her up.

Needless to say, it works.


	21. Oh My GAAAAWD

**Title:** Oh My GAAAAWD

**Wordcount:** 1039

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K+

**Notes:** Hee. Yuffie and Aerith make good siblings.

**Oh my GAAAAWD**

"Yuuuuuuffie!"

"Yeahyeahyeahyeahyeah!" Yuffie replied quickly, slurring the words into one big breathless mass, rushing up the stairs, stumbling on the last few and using one hand to straighten herself against the railing.

"Isn't the kid gonna be here in, like, five minutes!" Aerith shot back from the bottom of the stairs, sliding into view, and Yuffie skidded down the hall at breakneck speeds, bouncing off a wall as she tried to ricochet herself into her bedroom.

"Yeah, I know! I freakin' know!" Yuffie yelled back, and plunged herself into her closet, landing on her knees and tossing heaps of clothes out of the way - some clean, some dirty. Aerith padded up the stairs slowly, eons behind her younger sister, and Yuffie was still scrambling through the mountains of fabric when Aerith walked up behind her.

"So you - late for your first date," Aerith laughed, leaning against the doorframe, and Yuffie twisted around to smack her across the knees with a t-shirt.

"I didn't mean it, okay! I got distracted and he's going to be here in, like, five minutes, holy crap, he's gonna be standing in the doorway, and he's going to be like, "Oh, HI YUFFIE, you look absolutely craptastic!" and I'll probably fall over and die and then crawl into the corner and oh my gawd he's going to laugh at me and aaaaaaaaaaaaaa–––"

Yuffie's ramblings was cut off as Aerith nudged her, and Yuffie spun again, and Aerith held up a pink babydoll t-shirt. Yuffie glowered at it for a moment, and when Aerith gave it a suggesting shake, Yuffie snatched it away and tossed into the piles.

"What was wrong with that!" Aerith asked.

"IT'S PINK. You should know that, Miss I Own The Freakin' Pink Everything!"

Aerith stuck out her lower lip and pouted, and said, "It's not pink, it's _light red_..."

"Ohshutupandfindmeclothes," Yuffie slurred, and Aerith opened her mouth to suggest something, but Yuffie was already on her feet and shoving her way past her big sister with a holler of, "I have no clothes! TO YOUR ROOM!"

Aerith rummaged through Yuffie's closet for a minute, picking up a few things and draping them over her arm, and then followed her panicked-but-enthusiastic sister into her room. She found Yuffie hopping around on one foot, trying to pull on a denim skirt. Due to her overactivity, she seemed to be having a great amount of difficulty at such an easy task. Aerith let her fumble around for a minute.

"Gawd damnit woman, why are your hips so freakin' WIDE?" Yuffie demanded, flicking at the loose waistband angrily and hoisting it up on her hips as it fell down a few inches.

"Yuffie."

"I mean, did you take the freakin' Grow Huge Hips pills!"

"Yuffie!"

"ARE YOU WAITING FOR A BABY TO POP OU––"

"YUFFIE."

Yuffie shut up and looked over, and blinked once, before staring. Aerith gave a small cough to clear her throat, and then announced, casually, "You don't wear skirts."

Yuffie continued to stare, before she ripped off the skirt with a frustrated shout, and Aerith gave a giggle. Yuffie pulled off her shirt, too, and, underwear clad, she stormed back across the hall to her own room, where she continued rummaging.

"Your hair is a mess," Aerith teased, settling back in her place, standing behind Yuffie, watching her make her personal disaster area look more untamed by the second. Yuffie ran a hand through her hair swiftly, and gave her a strained, "Iknowshutup!"

Aerith ducked a pair of jeans that flung by her head, and she tilted her head, eyes landing on something familiar. Hey, that was her t-shirt, in the wreckage! She reminded Yuffie of this, only to be shoved in reply, launching another tirade of bickers.

And, as Yuffie tried to pull a tank top over her head, in the momentary silence that was Aerith seizing back her t-shirt, there was a doorbell chime. Yuffie looked up at Aerith.

"Get the door."

Aerith grinned, and said, "He's your boyfriend."

Yuffie's eyes narrowed dangerously, and she said, "Get the door or I'll kill you."

She got a laugh in reply, and Aerith casually looked at her watch, and said, oh-so-sweetly, "Oh? I told Cloud I'd call him at five... and look at the time! I can't. But I suppose you can leave him rejected, on the doorstep, all alone."

"I hate you!" Yuffie shouted as she jumped to her feet, "IhateyouIhateyouIhateyou!"

She took the stairs four at a time, and as she hit the ground floor and ripped open the front door, her date was _just_ turning to leave. He stared for a moment, and turned back to her, and her eyes roved freely down him. Oh, gorgeous. Tight jeans, loose t-shirt, that perfect hair, oh, drooooooool. He was dressed... well, he was dressed. She was...?

Wearing her panties and her freakin' A-cup bra.

She was out there in her underwear, and she didn't even have the rack to make it look like she was seducing him or something.

Oh. My. Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawd.

He flushed, and blinked, and stared, and then tried not to stare, and said, "I take it you're not ready yet...? Or is the date in the bedroom?"

She wasn't sure whether she wanted to melt away into nothing, or if she wanted to smack Aerith in the face, or if she wanted to throw herself on Riku and compliment him on his coolness for saying that, despite the expression on his face.

Aerith, somewhere around the landing, burst out laughing, and Yuffie whirled to glare at her. Aerith grinned back at her. Riku blinked. Yuffie glanced back to her hot date, and put on a brave smirk, and linked her arm with his, marching him down the front walkway.

She threw a teasing, "Cloud's frickin' hideous anyways!" at her sister. Riku laughed, and Aerith was a perfect blend of Laughing-Her-Guts-Out and No-Freakin'-Way-Did-You-Say-That-Brat.

-------------

Dear Diary:

In the end, Yuffie did go back to her clothes.

She let Riku help her pick, on their own time.

If you know what I mean ;D

heartheart,

Aerith


	22. Finding Acceptance

**Title:** Finding Acceptance

**Wordcount:** 1774

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K

**Notes:** I am ridiculously cheerful right now.

**Finding Acceptance**

Exactly twenty two hours ago, Riku's life had been a random sequence of hit-and-miss drama and events. Each moment was lived without a clue of the next, and mealtime was whenever the hell either of them were hungry. It was just Mickey and Riku. Two souls completely unalike, but somehow similar at the same time. Riku missed it already.

Yet there he was, dumped like trash, feeling depressed and rejected, seated at a rickety old table, staring lifelessly at the heap of pasta in front of him. God, when was the last time he had tasted pasta...? It seemed like it was eons ago. Pasta. Real, home-made pasta. Not fast food, not a meal procured from nowhere.

"Hey, everyone's so _quiet,"_ Aerith said, and gave a little tsk-tsk under her breath. She stirred her spaghetti with her fork, expertly winding it on with a spoon. Her bright green eyes flicked from the moody Leon to the ninja girl, Yuffie, and then finally onto Riku himself - he stared back at her, a bit helplessly, and when no one said anything, Aerith said, "You'd think something was awkward... c'mon, normally it's hard to find silence here!"

Riku got up abruptly, pushing his bowl away, the legs of his chair grinding against the floor. However, a leather-gloved hand reached over and shoved the bowl back at him, and one long leg darted from under the table to seize a leg of the chair, pulling it back towards Riku and forcing him to sit.

"Finish your dinner, kid."

It was possibly the third complete sentence Leon had spoken to him since his arrival. And, frankly, he didn't want to know why. He was told that Leon had issues - somewhat teasingly - by the King - but he didn't expect a rampant look of mistrust from behind those grey eyes. Riku resisted the urge to bite his lip, and he said, "I'm not hungry."

His rumbling stomach protested, but Riku ignored it. His eyes flicked from Leon to Yuffie and to Aerith again, unsure who to look at.

Aerith reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder, and said to Leon, politely, "Leon, he's not hungry. We can always reheat it for him later."

"Kid doesn't know how to use a microwave?" Leon replied, and Aerith opened her mouth to argue, but Leon let go of Riku's plate and sat back, climbing to his feet and taking his plate to the sink. Yuffie glowered up at Riku. Riku actually did bite his lip.

Leon left. Yuffie was quick to follow, with a loud, "Heya, wait!" and she skipped out after him. Aerith watched them go, and then picked up Yuffie's and her own plate, walking over to the sink quietly. Riku sidestepped his chair and pushed it in, picking up his own plate and following her over to the sink, placing it next to the others.

She looked at him, and he picked up the plate again, and she gave a laugh.

"It's okay - just put it there," she said easily, and then added, "Don't mind Leon. He has trust issues. We haven't heard the happiest of stories about you, and he's not quick to like most people in the first place."

Well, Riku thought. She was blunt enough. It didn't ease his worries about being the black sheep at all - especially with such a vague date given to him by the King. "I'll be back soon, I promise" wasn't exactly precise, and Riku didn't want to remain the intruder on this little family for any longer than... now, really.

"Oh," he said. He did not press the matter.

She nodded, and gave him a generous smile. He wondered how earnest it was, and she began to wash the dishes, humming. He stood there, trying to decide on something to do, and she said, "Feel at home! We don't bite!"

He took that information to heart, and sat down on the couch fairly stiffly, looking for the TV remote. And he flipped channels, for about five minutes, after staring at the remote for a good minute, trying to find all the buttons.

And then he watched the news, feeling more normal than he had in _years_.

God, he hadn't watched TV since he was... fifteen, was it? And now, here he was, eighteen, having experienced pretty much every fuck-over in the world, watching television for the first time in eons.

"... what are you watching?"

A pair of arms slipped around his neck from over the back of the couch, and he whirled in his seat, to stare into bright eyes. For a moment, he was startled and terrified.

Oh. Yuffie.

"The news," he replied simply, rolling over on the couch. There was a moment of silence between them, and then she grabbed the remote and clicked a few buttons, and turned off the TV. She stared at the blank screen for a minute, and then asked, "You're Riku, right? We didn't get introduced too well."

His mind flickered back to the incident the night before - Yuffie watching him from the _roof_, of all places, and then refusing to come down all night. He thought she was crazy. Apparently, she was crazy. But he just nodded at her.

"Yeah - you're Yuffie?" he replied. He noticed she was breathing hard, and her teeth were grit, and he asked, with a hint of concern, "Are you alright?"

She nodded and stood up, and walked around the couch and over to him - she was shorter than him by quite a bit, the top of her head only reaching his nose. And, looking up at him, she demanded, "Riku?"

"... yes?" he asked, confused and a bit alarmed - he stepped back, as there was barely a foot between them, and he wasn't sure whether she was trustable or not. She ought to be, anyway.

She extended a hand, and he took it - but there was a swift, indiscernible moment of exchange, when she grabbed his wrist instead, and used her other hand to punch him across the face with all her might, which was surprisingly a lot, considering her size. He was so shocked by the blow across his cheek that he actually went weak in the knees, and crumbled a bit. She let go of his wrist - he looked around for Aerith, and was dismayed to find she was no where in view.

... oh god. Was he _looking_ for protection now, from a _girl?_

After he had regained his balance and straightened, storming a few feet from her and clutching his face and wincing. Holding back flinches from the pain, he snapped, "What the hell was that for!"

She followed his move away, and shadowed him - at the last secord, she aimed a punch at his gut, but he was quicker and on guard, and he dodged away immediately. She whirled around to glare at him, and, angrily, she snarled, "Don't you ever hurt my friend again!"

Riku stared.

Yuffie glowered.

And what he had figured from the start was made painfully - literally - clear - he was being made an outcast and ignored and glossed over because of _that_. Because he was being treated differently, despite them not even knowing him personally, because they knew _Sora_, and they understood everything from _Sora's_ point of view.

Riku felt betrayed. And horrible. And he moved to go to the door, to leave, but Yuffie seized his arm and, in another swift movement, pinned one of his feet to the floor with foot, and twisted his arm behind his back. Her other arm bent, she gave him another smack across the jaw with her elbow. His face reeled with pain.

"I'm not finished!" she said, as he clapped a hand to his face and flinched, "What kind of a jerk are you! Doing shit like that to people! Gawd, you don't even deserve to stay with us."

He stared at her, and then decided that, girl or not, he wasn't going to be walked over like this.

He swung a hit back, and punched her in the shoulder, and having the disadvantage of his foot being pinned, she could move a lot farther than he could - she moved back enough that the hit just grazed her shoulder. But it was enough to hurt her. Yuffie winced, and snarled, "Okay, now you're getting it."

"What! You were holding back because _I wasn't fighting back?" _he shot back, and she grabbed his forearms, and lifted her knee up sharply. Riku wasn't quick enough to move - with three points held, he wasn't moving anywhere, anyway - but he did headbutt forward, catching her on the forehead and stopping her attack.

She yelped, and then pounced on him, knocking him over onto the couch. He thrashed, rolling her under him, and as he lifted an arm to punch down. But she used a foot under his stomach to smash him off of her, and she climbed on top of him, straddling his waist, and, to his horror, she pulled out a knife.

Consorting to _weapons._

Yuffie placed it quickly under his jugular - not close enough to accidently slit his throat, but close enough to pose a threat - and when he stopped fighting and lay flat, she said, "Why are you fighting me? 'Cause you know it's true, and you don't like it? Or 'cause you think I'm a liar? 'Cause I don't lie!"

Riku stared up at her.

She glowered down at him.

"Yuffie," he said, tensing, one hand reaching up to hold her wrist tightly, "I'm sorry for all that shit I did to Sora. You don't know how sorry I am."

She was quiet for a moment, and then rolled off of him, pocketing the knife and grabbing him by the collar. She dragged him to his feet, and he followed her pull reluctantly. Then, with a huge grin, she said, "Well, then! I forgive you!"

He stared at her, and then she extended a hand, with a cheery greeting of, "Nice ta meet ya, Riku! I'm the great ninja Yuffie!"

He looked down at her hand suspiciously, then up to her grin, and when she tilted her head, he just stood there, silently, for a moment.

And then, with a rush of emotions, he hugged her to him, tightly, and she giggled and slipped her arms around his waist, hugging him back.

"Nice to meet you, Yuffie. I'm Riku."


	23. Sleeping Over

**Title:** Sleeping Over

**Wordcount:** 2122

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** T

**Notes:** I'm on a roll tonight, I think. I like this concept.

**Sleeping Over**

"I don't think anyone will mind. They don't have to know, anyways. You sleepin' in my room. Innocent kid stuff. It's a sleep-over. Ever had a sleep-over? I think it's really silly 'n stuff, but that's 'cause when I was little, Aerith would call bedtime that every night to make me think it was fun... I was a bit dumb and didn't catch on for a while, but sleep-overs with Aerith meant hair-brushing and nail-painting and stupid stuff like that, so I didn't really like it, y'know, Anyways..."

Riku didn't say anything, content to listen to Yuffie ramble aimlessly, pulling on a fresh t-shirt and sitting down on the edge of her bed, bare feet drumming against the hardwood floor gently. Yuffie, standing in front of her floor-length mirror, was struggling to get the sweater she was wearing off from over her head, the neckline sticking under her chin and refusing to come off. He chuckled slightly.

"It'd be easier if you just unzipped it first," he suggested, as she turned to look at him through the bottom of the sweater, the green fabric bunched around her neck like a frumpy green lion's mane. Sticking out her tongue, she returned to her struggle, reaching up to find the zipper. After a few moments, he stood up and pulled it off her with a chuckle, and she dropped it onto the floor. With Yuffie, he had learned, laundry hampers would never be a concept she would understand. Clothes belonged on the floor in her room, and he only felt _slightly_ embarrassed when stepping around the mounds of clothing coating her floor - stepping in unmentionables, that type of thing that made her giggle at the looks on his face.

"Zippers are for the stupid and weak," she grinned, nudging his sleeveless zippered shirt with her foot, kicking it into a pile with her clothes. If there was one thing about it, really, she liked to have walkways between the mountains of clothes - one to the mirror, one to the bed, and one to the door.

She pulled off her shirt, and it joined the sweater on the floor. In the brief moment between her dropping the shirt and reaching for a clean camisole to sleep in, Riku, still standing behind her, kissed her shoulder and gently grabbed the back of her bra, pulling it back and zinging it a bit. She gave a yelp, spinning fast enough to possibly throw the world off balance - then again, she always did that - and glanced at his playful smile, before reaching up one hand and gently smacking him across the top of his head. He laughed, she laughed, and she pulled on the camisole.

"You're just gonna sleep like that?"

He moved back to the bed, flopping down on it in his boxers and t-shirt. She fumbled with the buckle of her belt, then slipped it and her shorts off her hips. He watched her with a silly sort of interest, admiring her. Ah, Yuffie. Not always the sharpest tool in the shed, but always six million-billion-trillion times cooler and hotter than the rest. You know, if garden tools were sexy.

Yuffie looked up, kicking her shorts off her ankles and skipping over to the bed, slipping in between the covers and snuggling up next to him with a grin.

"Yup," she replied, flicking off the lamp and then putting her arm around him, pressing her forehead against his chest. Then, quickly, she pulled away, sitting up. His arms left her waist, confused, and through the darkness, he sat up too, blindly feeling for her wrist.

"What's up?" he asked, feeling her shifting around next to him, her elbow skimming his shoulder.

"Bra. I forgot about it."

He gave a sort of chuckle, finding her back with one hand and sliding it up until he found the clasp, taking them together and moving to undo it. She stopped thrashing around for a moment, but giggled and moved around as his fingers touched sensitive places, ticklish.

"How'd you forget about it? I snapped your bra and then you just forgot it was there?" he teased, "Talk about a short attention span."

"Oh, shut up, you," she shot back, though she laughed again as he tickled her side. "You're gonna wake up the supposedly-responsible people."

He unhooked the bra, finally, letting it fall loose, and she squirmed around again, his hand on hers, moving to get the straps off her arms, before he reached up the front of her shirt, the palm of his skin warm against her stomach. She froze, letting out one last giggle, and then moved her hands to grip the edge of his shirt. He couldn't see a thing through the dark, just feel the warmth of her skin, the feeling of her ribcage through her flesh, the smooth cotton of her bra. Every texture, every curve, it was perfect and warm, right down to the way his fingers could rest against her cleavage, curling around the joint of the cups and pulling it out from under her shirt.

She didn't say anything. Neither did he.

But he loved the feeling of her chest rising with each breath. The way she didn't push him off or flinch, or ever make any move to stop him. That was... exhilarating. Funny, how they went from teasing to serious so quickly, simply with moving from something so childish to something so intimate. Something beyond their sixteen years, something beyond what they understood. Something... they _wanted_ to understand.

And, feeling a bit more daring, he put his hand up her shirt again, cupping one small breast in his palm and smiling through the darkness. His face grew hot, he could feel her hand wringing the hem of his shirt, and she moved closer, so her lips were almost against his throat. With her almost kneeling in his lap, he held her around the shoulders with his other arm, his nose brushing the top of her head.

She felt... light.

"They're small, aren't they?" she mumbled, and his palm moved up a bit, thumb running over her nipple. He shook his head - a useless gesture, considering she'd never see it - and sat back to kiss her on the forehead.

"They're perfect... you're perfect," he replied softly.

She put a quick kiss on his throat, and another on his collarbone, then rested her cheek against his shoulder. Her cheek felt searing hot on his own skin, and he gave a chuckle, and said, "You're blushing."

He couldn't see it, but he _felt_ it.

Yuffie gave a quiet laugh, and said, "Hey, I don't generally get boys saying they _like_ my boobs... not that I have much more boob than they do."

Her hands lifted from his shirt and then moved underneath it, and both rested against his chest. He took a deep breath, and said, "Well, they're stupid asses if they just like you for your rack, then. I think you're awesome. And sexy..." a pause, and then another laugh. "I dunno, but I think any guy would kill to be me right now, and any girl to be you."

She giggled, and said, "Boys are kinda funny... no offense or nothin', but you guys are just weird... big shoulders and flat chests and all muscly and weird..."

"Yeah, and girls aren't weird?" he teased, reluctantly letting go of her chest and withdrawing his hand, moving to place both hands on her collarbone, near the neck, and gently sliding them along the curve of her shoulders and to her forearms. "So narrow and skinny, but you've got these round hips," he demonstrated by moving his hands to under her arms, palms gliding down the seams of the camisole and along her hips, resting at her thighs. She mimicked the movement, her own hands tracing his body, sending shivers through his body.

"You're hot," Yuffie just commented, lifting her hand so just the fingertips touched his skin, drumming them lightly against him. "Hotter than all the other guys. And I like your shoulders, even if they're weird."

"Girls have silly shoulders," he replied, moving his hands there as he spoke, fingers tracing the grooves of her collarbone for a second, then tracing the smooth part that joined to her forearms. "So weird."

"Well, it lets us wiggle into tight spaces," she grinned, pushing forward and knocking him onto his back, shoving until he was lying there. He didn't protest - she lay down, half next to him, half on top of him, her arms around his chest and the top of her head against his cheek.

His arm tucked around her, so the palm of his hand was against her spine, and he ran it along her back, feeling the shape of her shoulder blades and sides, smiling into her hair, closing his eyes for a moment. He felt her lips press a few kisses onto his chin, and he tickled her, making her spasm gently with laughter.

It was beautiful, just lying there with her, without a care in the world.

"You're so warm," she said.

And, without thinking, he brought up the subject he hated most.

"And your heart's beating a million times per second."

She didn't say anything. She just pressed her hands against his chest again, more firmly than before, as if searching for something. He knew what was coming, he knew what she was looking for, and he hated himself for bringing it up. She lifted her head from his shoulder.

"I... can't feel yours."

He clenched his jaw and tensed, and she moved her cheek from his shoulder. Simultaneously, she lifted her hands from his chest and sat up a bit, propping herself up over him, but she didn't say anything.

There was a disturbing sense of space between them, despite how her knees were still between his legs, despite how they only had less than a foot between them. She let out a long breath, he didn't breathe at all for a moment.

Less than a foot between them, and yet, emotionally, they were farther than ever before.

"Sorry, Rikuriku, I didn't mean to, really, it just popped out an–"

He cut her off by cupping her chin with both hands, fingers brushing the curve of her jaw and almost her ears, thumb caressing her cheek for a brief moment, before kissing her deeply. She shut up - as any sane person would do - and kissed back, until he broke off.

"How does blood pump or whatever if your heart doesn't beat?" she asked.

Riku hated that curiosity for a few seconds, that inquisitive stubbornness in her, that made it so she refused to be distracted by anything until she found out what she wanted to know, until she solved the problem, until she figured it out.

"It just does... it's a figurative thing, blood still flows but it's... just not something you notice. It's automatic, like breathing... blood just _moves..."_

He moved in to kiss her again, to distract her from the subject, although he knew it was fruitless. Maybe he should brush her breast, or nip her on the ear, or something... but he knew he needed to distract her. But she ducked back, avoiding his lips by inches, letting out a stubborn, silent sigh. He moved to try again, but he wasn't about to kiss her when she didn't want him to. No, not like that.

That stubbornness. That was exactly what made Yuffie a fighter. That's what made her horrible. And incredibly... just so, so...

Wonderful.

"Because I'm strong... and people with strong hearts don't become heartless... they just... don't have hearts," he said slowly, quietly, mouth inches from hers. She nodded slightly, then moved forward to kiss him, her own hands moving to his face.

"I don't really believe in all that heart mumbo-jumbo 'bout how people who lose their hearts turn into total asswipes," she said softly, and he felt... well, that void in his chest... take a small soar into the night air. "'Cause you've still got a big heart. In my head, anyway. Let's just say it's sleeping over with me right now, kay? It'll stay here, with me."

She took his hand, and pressed it against her chest, under the shirt. He felt the strong thump-thump of her heart under her skin, closing his eyes.

"You'll sleep over with me until you take it back!"

He let out a small chuckle.

"I think," he said, "that's a very good idea."


	24. Thief

**Title:** Thief

**Wordcount:** 758

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K

**Notes:** Short. Make-out. Lying. Thievery. General Riku, general Yuffie, just nuts.

**Thief**

"Yuffie... you _stole_ this," Riku said flatly.

He stared down at the wallet in his hand, the leather cool against his bare palm. The zipper tag swung back and forth, the stitching around the sides new and crisp. It was evidently an expensive wallet, judging by the brand names plastered on it, and a brand new one to boot. And, well... he didn't want to know what kind of a rich person would have this, and how they could let it get from their sight.

"It was lying around."

Yuffie wasn't an excellent liar, most of the time. But she was talented at making things seem casual, seem plain or normal or without any cause for concern at all. But the way she said that, so jaunty and teasing and taunting, he really wasn't amused. She was a thief, he knew that, he had watched her steal Leon's belts or hide Aerith's cosmetics, but he never saw her steal anything she didn't intend on returning. And, really, once you had spent money, you couldn't really return it.

"And if by lying around you meant _in their pocket_, why yes, Yuffie, it was _lying around_," he snapped.

"Hey hey hey, anything not in a titanium safe, a thousand feet below sea level, surrounded by blood-thirsty monsters and stuff, IS INDEED LYING AROUND," she shot back.

Her arms folded across her chest, smirking playfully, she didn't add more to that. Riku just scowled at her, and moved to walk away. She had stolen a wallet from someone - and that just didn't sit well with him. He wasn't exactly a saint when it came to theft, but he wasn't about to let it happen alone. Grabbing her by the arm, he said smoothly, "Come on, Yuffie."

"Where we going?" she asked with a grin, "Shopping? Lunch?"

"To return it," he retorted, "it's not right to steal."

"Character flaw," she said, a bit sharply, putting a bit of an edge to her voice that he didn't like - that slightly whiny, slightly vicious edge, "I can play pickpocket if you can play traitor."

He stared at her, eyes narrowing. If he didn't like her... he would have punched her, right there. He didn't like taking criticism. He hated criticism. And, she grinned, knowing she had found the nerve and had not only pinched it, but torn it out and had done the Hat Dance on it. Dah-duh-dah-duh-dah-duh! Duh-duh-duh-duh-duh, dah-duh! Clap clap! Rinse and repeat.

"Fine," he said, "have it your way."

She laughed, and said, "Kiss me and I'll take it back, and return the wallet, pretty boy."

He stormed back over to her, and gave her a meek kiss on the cheek. She grabbed his ear between two fingers, and said, "Oh, no. That _hardly_ does it for me, Rikuriku. It's like a _teeny tiny_ little bit of what you owe me. It's like... an atom! Or a MOLECULE. It's so tiny. Tiny tiny tiny like those brand new MP3 players that you'd lose in, like, a bazillion millionth of a second. It's just that ti––"

He was on her in a flash, just to shut her up - his arms slipped around her waist and he bent her over backwards, and her arms shot around his neck so she didn't fall over. His lips pressed against hers, light enough that it didn't bruise, but strong enough that she'd damn well feel it. She gave a tiny giggle, stifled by him, and his tongue traced her lips and his hand roved down her side freely.

And when he set her right on her feet, she laughed, jumped onto his back, and pointed forward with a loud cry of, "Onward, ho! Off goes the non-traitorous Riku and the non-thieverous Yuffie TO RETURN THE WALLET!"

He looped his arms around her legs, boosting her up into a piggy back, and said, "That's not even a word!"

"IT IS NOW! Now run, my steed!"

"Steed? I'm not a horse."

"Stud."

Riku paused.

"Alright, I'll be your stud."

And onward, ho, they went, on a crazy adventure to return one wallet, to ruin their reputations as traitors and thieves, and to possibly go out for lunch. Or maybe just find a booth to make out in, in public, because they seemed to be good at that.

And, really, Riku thought, Yuffie wouldn't be Yuffie if she didn't do what she liked to do.


	25. It Would Appear In The Papers

**Title:** It Would Appear In The Papers

**Wordcount:** 841

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** M

**Notes:** Hey, it appears we're 25 done. Wow :) Still lots to go! Have fun with this one - I'm just all-too in love with the concept. Amuses me.

**It Would Appear In The Papers**

The second the front door shut, Riku and Yuffie grabbed each other simultaneously. It was impossible to tell who was dragging who, but it happened, and they slipped into her bedroom faster than Aerith could say, "Leon and I going out to get some milk, see you!"

"Shut the door," Yuffie said, giving a hushed giggle, and Riku shoved the door closed with one hand before she was even finished talking - she plopped down onto the bed with a bounce, he grinned and followed her, dropping to his knees. He rested his elbows on her knees for a second, nearly spreading her legs right there, but he resisted the urge for just a moment.

"You ready?" he asked, and she grabbed him - perhaps a tiny bit too roughly - by the jaw and pulled him closer, ensnaring him in a deep kiss. He plunged forward, knocking her over onto her back, stretching out over her. His knee was somewhere between hers, and he squished her into the bed, barely propping himself up over her. Yuffie giggled as he edged up to meet her lips again, and wrapped one leg around his waist, running her fingers through his hair as he moved to place a trail of kisses down the curve of her neck.

"Never been more ready," she replied, and he climbed off of her again, possibly as enthusiastic as she was, dragging her back upright with a grin. She sat up straighter, on the very edge of the bed, and undid her fly and the button on her shorts. She lifted her hips up - Riku grabbed the top rim of her shorts immediately, dragging everything off, with panties and all, and down to her ankles. She kicked them off with a giggle, stealing another kiss from him, trailing her fingers across his jaw.

"Door locked?" Riku asked, and Yuffie glanced over his shoulder, and nodded, with a huge smile, face flushed - Riku smirked back, and moved her legs up over his shoulders, moving his body down. She could have died happy right there, and giggled as his bangs brushed her lower abdomen, and she fell back to rest on her elbows.

Riku had constantly teased her about this - he had apparently never done it, she had never gotten it - well, duh to both, really - but he insisted they try it sometime. And Yuffie, well, she would try anything once. Just about anything short of eating bugs.

And then he licked her, and, already giddy with the concept alone, Yuffie let out a a light gasp, body tensing, back arching. Her fingers dug into the comforter on the bed, bunching the thick fabric.

Riku did something Yuffie couldn't quite describe, with a flick of his tongue, and she let out a louder gasp, making him stop reluctantly - he looked up and said with a grin, flushed bright red in the face, "Noisy, as usual!"

Oh, what a jerk, leaving her like that. She mentally reminded herself to do the same to him when they played vice-versa.

"Your fault!" she replied, a bit louder and breathier than she expected, as Riku's breath was hot and taunting on her sex. His fingers drummed against her waist, holding her still as she writhed slightly.

"I know," he grinned, and pushed her legs up a bit more, just staring at her for a few moments, breathing a bit heavily. Thank gawd she was flexible, she mused as she stared into his eyes, knees nearly bent up to her chest, thank gawd. "And the best part is, we can be as noisy as we want!"

He smirked, again, and she felt like kissing it off of him, but she was more distracted by the fact that she was left hanging. She let out a little whine of his name as his fingers trailed along her thigh, and he went back for more, ducking down again.

Just as the door opened.

Yuffie bit back a moan, Riku looked up, and Leon just stared for a moment, having fallen into a disturbing mix of a stare of horror and an angry glare. Yuffie could have laughed, if she didn't think they were going to die like that. Leon's eyes wandered to the ceiling, face flushed appropriately, and Yuffie was too shocked to blush. Riku backed off, giving a nervous sort of chuckle, and Yuffie closed her legs, grabbing a pillow and shielding herself. Leon's eyes moved to Riku, glaring - and with a stupid reflex, Riku wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

It could appear in the papers, Yuffie mused - teen couple slaughtered to death by a copious amounts of belts after girl's "brother" walks in without invitation.


	26. Daycare

**Title:** Daycare

**Wordcount:** 1426

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K

**Notes:** Heee :) Children.

**Daycare**

Enter Yuffie Kisaragi, six years old. Pixie-like for her age, but has a mean set of fists that send even the biggest of kids her age skittering backwards. With a scruffy mop of black hair, big brown doe-eyes, and t-shirt and overalls in the brightest colours she can pick out from her closet, Yuffie Kisaragi is not someone you'd expect to push you face first into the dirt if you bugged her. But, reality says, she is. Her big brother sighs every time the daycare calls, listing off whoever she's stomped all over that day. Her dad pats her on the head with one calloused hand when he gets home from his shop, and chuckles and congratulates her for showing the world what she's made of. Yuffie Kisaragi is not some perfect pretty princess - she's a tomboy princess, the girl among the boys, the one holding the reins. No one else can be leader when she plays. Girls are dumb, boys are dumb, but she'd rather hang out with the boys because they don't scream as much when you tackle them. As long as she doesn't touch their mouthes - boys do have cooties, you know.

Enter Riku - his last name? He hasn't learnt to spell it yet, sadly, he always misses the second "O". Stubborn nature, I'm afraid - he's seven years old. New to town, he enters the daycare in his mother's arms, clinging to her neck and giggling about all the things they're going to do today. Adventurous but maybe a bit shy without his friends in tow, Riku is a friendly kid - unless you're mean to him. And Riku, well, he doesn't have friends anymore. He used to - then his mom told him to say goodbye, and that he'd see them one day, and BAM! He was friendless, in a big, big house full of boxes, and suddenly shipped off to daycare.

The second Riku figured out that he was going to daycare without mommy, he glued himself to said mommy's leg, clinging to her thigh and the bottom of her white dress for dear life as he knew it. She spent four minutes trying to coax him off, and five trying to pry him off. But, alas, the child did not want to leave his mother's side, because he was in a strange place with strange people, and there was a scary clown painted on the wall. Childlike instinct - if it's new (or green and gross), cling to the things you do know.

A very good explanation to why children won't eat their green vegetables, or why children won't let you go if you give them the chance to stop you.

After those harrowing nine minutes, Riku's mother is free. A daycare lady - tall, red-haired, with a big grin and welcoming blue eyes - holds his hand firmly as his mother walks away, standing still as he tries to follow her. He ends up skidding on place on the floor, struggling to escape the grip of Daycare Lady, and, unfortunately for him, cannot escape her wrath.

His mommy speeds away in her white car.

Riku cries.

-X-X-

It it common practice for Yuffie to meet the newcomers. No one understands how anyone would want to play with a kid who shoves people when she first meets them, but somehow, it happens. The first intersection in the paths of Riku and Yuffie's fate occurs at eleven-oh-five in the morning of January twelfth. It is a Saturday. Riku ends up tackling her after she pushes him, and the two spend a grand three minutes shoving each other and screaming and yelling before daycare workers manage to drag them away from each other. Yuffie leaves kicking and screaming - her style, really - and Riku does the same.

After a lengthy time out, they meet again.

-X-X-

When they meet again, the first thing Yuffie tells him, is that he has pretty eyes. Riku balks at this, and sneers back that they are_ not_ pretty, they are _handsome._ There is a very, very, very, VERY importance difference, he insists. Very, very. It's so important, it's as if Yuffie has broken a sacred law that she, as a girl, will never understand.

She challenges him to a race. He says she's a girl, therefore cannot run - which is not only politically incorrect, but ignorant of science. She barrels into him, at a run, and shoves him to the ground, wrestling with him until they're both rolling around on the floor, pinching and slapping and smacking. Children tend to fight like that.

Riku shouts for the daycare lady, but Yuffie lays a punch on his lip before he can finish saying it, and, driven to the limit, he hits her back, and rolls her over. Because, when push comes to shove, Riku doesn't let people mess with him. Well, usually, anyway. Sometimes he did. Sometimes he didn't.

Depends on how many episodes of his favourite children's program he had watched, possibly. Or how much sugar he has been allowed.

Yuffie, however, just wants to prove daddy how much of strong kid she was, and fights back just as fiercely.

The daycare lady catches them seven minutes into their fight, and promptly places them back in the Naughty Corner.

-X-X-

Daycare lady instructs them to write out an apology to each other, when they refuse to verbally say they're sorry for what they did. Riku's lip is bleeding. Yuffie has a black eye. They both are learning to spell at the time, and under much consultation from the daycare lady, manage to produce two letters, written in sloppy crayon on bright sheets of coloured paper.

**_Dear Rikku,_** Yuffie's reads. **_I hat you. From Yuffie Kisaragi._**

**_Dear Yuffie,_** Riku's reads, in slightly more legible writing. **_Youre dumb. From Riku._** He misses the second "O" in his last name.

Daycare lady doesn't try to correct these things, as she usually would - both kids are riled, frustrated, and probably on the verge of kicking the crap out of each other again. They exchange letters - both spend a few pensive moments reading each other's "apology", and then Riku turns to Yuffie, concerned, to demand if she really does "hat" him. She says no, she "hates" him. This is somehow less offensive than being "hatted".

So, thus, Riku sticks his tongue out at her, and Yuffie does the same to him. Then she realizes that she has been called dumb, and this is a serious offense, so she lunges at him from across the kiddy table, knocking over her bright yellow chair in the process. Daycare lady seizes her by the back of the overalls and drags her off the table. Riku sticks his tongue out at her again, safe from her wrath for a moment, and Daycare lady winces as her toe is stomped on by one orange boot.

Daycare lady wonders if the two will ever play peacefully.

In reality, they never will. Well, perhaps, on a rare occasion or two, they will tire of fighting and curl up on a cot to nap, snuggled together and sleeping innocently. Then they will wake, and fight over who is the owner of the pillow they are sharing, tussle over the blankets, et cetera, and then the world will right itself on its axle, and life will continue as usual.

As usual as it is, anyway.

Today isn't that day, yet.

Riku's mother returns in the late afternoon, to claim Riku, and is concerned to find her child has a bloody lip and band-aids plastering where his shirt didn't cover. Yuffie's father arrives at the same time - he sees his roughed-up but happy girl, and exchanges a glance at Riku's mother. She smiles and tells him Riku doesn't make friends easily. He chuckles and tells her Yuffie makes friends easily, but is bad at keeping them.

They tell their children - who are bickering playfully - that it is time to go. Whining, both demand when they are coming back, and Yuffie shoves Riku one last time, then pulls him close in a hug, forehead bumping his nose. He pinches her arm back, and hugs her back. The hug isn't really friendly - more of a contest to see who can squeeze harder - but it is a hug all the same, and both single parents exchange a surprised look.

Somehow, it seems a shame to divide such new friends.


	27. Hey, You!

**Title:** Hey, You!

**Wordcount:** 328

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K

**Notes:** Dorky concept, fun to write.

**Hey, You!**

"Riku!"

The boy did not look over. He continued humming, his headphones over his ears and blasting music so loud that Yuffie could hear it from the other side of the room. He was mercilessly scrubbing at stains on a pan, and they didn't seem to want to come out. The cuffs of his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, but were splattered with soapy water anyway. Quiet words drifted out over a loud base beat, singing something about worlds and battles and something-or-flippin'-other.

"RIIIIIKU," she called again.

Riku still didn't look up. Instead, he continued humming, and washed a plate instead. The suds in the water floated over the edge of the sink and onto the counter, and he paid no heed to it.

"RIKU RIKU RIKU," she called loudly.

Riku drummed his foot on the floor to the beat of his rock music as he placed the plate on the drying rack. The mp3 player clipped to his belt glinted in the dim kitchen light, and Yuffie considered pouncing on him, but noticed the knife in his hand and chose not to - instead, she waited for a break in the music, when chose to shout.

"Hey, you stud, you!"

Riku turned around and stared at her, wide-eyed, mouth slightly open in that stupid little 'o' shape. His face was perfectly shocked, and she stared back at him, biting back a smile.

"Stud?" Riku replied, half-smiling, half looking like he had had a bucket of ice dumped over his head. Yuffie bit her lip to hide that smile, and she nodded slowly. She tried to keep a straight face, oh, she tried, but it was just so _stupid,_ so _corny._

And then the two burst out laughing, sinking to the floor and leaning against the counters and each other for support, laughing and giggling until their sides hurt.


	28. Headboard

**Title:** Headboard

**Wordcount:** 710

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** T

**Notes:** ... it was just begging to be done.

**Headboard**

It was highly unnerving, to say the least.

He and Aerith were both awake, despite it being three in the morning. Both were sitting up in bed, albeit, neither were resting against the headboard. Instead, they were shifted a few feet forward. It was uncomfortable. It was silly, perhaps, but it made sense.

Leon was envious of Cid's ability to sleep through anything, from shouting to fire to explosions, hell, Cid could sleep through...

_This._

Creaaaaak. Creaaaaaaaaaaaaaak, wham. Creaaaaaaaaak...

Yuffie's bed was old, he knew. It was bought second-hand, maybe third, from a pawn shop a good eight years ago.

The creaking noise of the old bed on the other side of the wall was unmistakable, easily recognized as the springs on Yuffie's old single bed. The noise was accompanied by heavy pants and the odd moan or gasp, the occasional slam of the headboard against the wall. Leon wondered if the wall would have to be repainted after so much... banging.

He didn't say anything, and nor did Aerith. He glanced at her, and she was staring at the far wall, eyes so wide he could see the whites of her eyes almost all the way around the irises. She wasn't blinking. She seemed to be caught between nervous laughter and irritation.

"Maybe... they're playing a game?" he suggested, but even his own brain didn't believe that for a second, let alone Aerith's.

"R-Riku," came the noises from the other side of the wall, moaning.

Three feet, Leon realized. There was about three feet and a wall between him, his little "sister", and that damned _kid._ Or, from the sounds of it, the combined forces of two seventeen year olds. He edged further away from the wall. His brain reminded him that she had been learning to read just over a decade ago. He wasn't sure whether he thought this was too soon.

And he hated sounding like a parent, too, when he thought that.

"Yuffie," replied more noises from the other side. Leon inwardly cringed - Aerith closed her eyes and wordlessly mouthed something. She looked up at him, and repeated herself, hardly any louder than a suppressed whisper.

"Do they not care that we can probably hear them...?"

It occurred to him that, if this was their first time, they were much smoother and better at it than Aerith and him were. And better, maybe.

But it couldn't have been their first time. First times were awkward and stupid and over in thirty seconds, not - he checked the clock - _half an hour_. And during first times, there were lots of stupid questions, and quiet moments, and "ow!"s and "sorry!"s and such. And there were awkward changes of position and such. Not playful, confident growls of, "bend your legs a bit more, babe".

Wait.

Was he thinking about that? Was he _seriously considering that_?

And if it wasn't the first time, then... how many nights... how many _times_ had it happened, when he was sleeping, or when he was out, or maybe times they had just been really, really quiet ( ...ninja-like?) sometimes, when he was _reading, in the living room._

He wasn't sure if he wanted to go in there and stop them, or go find something exceedingly strong to murder his brain cells with. Maybe vodka. Rum. Hell, maybe he would go and import some absinthe. Or, if that failed, he could always drink bleach.

And then, he realized, a short while later, there were those... moments... where he couldn't hear Yuffie and he could just hear Riku groaning and moaning away, and then, suspiciously, a coughing noise and a giggle and more hushed whispers and–

"Stop paying attention," Aerith said finally, "before you drive yourself into insanity."

"Aerith, I think they're having sex–"

"That's obvious," Aerith said, a bit louder. Then, she went quiet. There was a soft bumping noise as the headboard hit the wall again, less violently, and a giggle and a chuckle. Leon heard a light-switch click. Then there was silence.

Four days later, Riku and Yuffie were still confused as to why Leon hadn't spoken a word to them.


	29. Risk It

**Title:** Risk It

**Wordcount:** 1247

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** T

**Notes:** More about the dialogue than anything.

**Risk It**

"I'm gonna lose my heart."

Cid looked up at her - no, he shoved himself out from underneath the gummi ship. Oh, shit, what an awkward sentence. What a ridiculously stupid suggestion. He stared up at her to her place seated on top of the gummi-ship-in-progress, and she didn't look down at him.

"What?" he said.

She repeated the statement - "I'm gonna lose my heart." - and looked away, giving a determined grin. Oh, no. Cid knew the girl well. He had known her for ninety-fucking-percent of her life. And when he saw that grin - the flash of teeth, the eyes, the shoulders tensed like that - he knew she was setting herself on a path and would only be dragged from it kicking and screaming.

"Yuffie," he said roughly, "you try that purposely, and I will personally kick the sense into that stubborn head of yours, y'hear?"

She looked down at him. Cid's eyes met hers for a moment, and he put down his spanner and climbed to his feet, marching over her and leaning over the hood to scrutinize her face. She smiled - innocently, this time - and he just raised an eyebrow.

"What's going through your head?" he said, after a moment, when he couldn't put his finger on it.

She just grinned and turned in her seat, spinning around the side of the hood. However, as the moved to jump down and leave, Cid reached across and grabbed her arm, dragging her across the hood.

"Kid, you answer the damn question."

She looked at him with a suddenly steeled glare, and said firmly, "I think Riku's lonely."

"Why would he be lonely?" Cid asked, "He's got us, doesn't he? Hell, if I were him, I'd be glad to have some sort of regular life for once in a while... with people, I suppose. What's he got to be lonely about?"

"'Cause we're different," she replied, and pulled herself from his grip, leaping off the ship. She moved to go, but Cid vaulted himself over the front corner of the hood, reaching her in time to snatch at her arm again - he caught her scarf, as she moved, and she halted to a pause.

"Because he's Heartless?" he suggested.

Yuffie whirled to look at him, eyebrows furrowed, and she snapped, grabbing the end of her scarf, "Don't say that, it's mean. He's not a Heartless, he's a Nobody. There's a difference - he told me!"

"Nobodies _are_ a form of Heartless... I thought we had figured that shit out?" Cid said, patience ebbing quickly. She glowered back at him, and he let go of the scarf. She adjusted it carefully, hiding a few predictable marks. Ah, kids. Couldn't control themselves.

"You're too buried in your machines to pay attention, old man," she taunted, but said, "you're right, but he's not a Heartless. Heartless are mean and animal-y and they destroy. Riku only hurts things that try to hurt him."

Well, he hardly considered thirty five _old_. Jeez.

"There's a lot of shit that hurts him, kiddo."

"I'm gonna lose my heart," Yuffie repeated stubbornly, "and then he won't have to be alone."

"It's dangerous, Yuffie. You know that."

"Of course! But if you're strong enough, you'll become a Nobody instead of a Heartless..."

"And just how the hell can you tell if you're strong enough, huh?"

"It's a risk I'll take."

Risk was dangerous. And he knew she would do it, too. She was just like that - someone could tell her how many times she had an opportunity to die in any given situation, and she would do it anyway. She would think of every single consequence and ignore them all. That was just _Yuffie._

"You'd risk your life for Riku?"

"Why wouldn't I!"

"What about Leon, Aerith and I? Or any of your other friends? Hell, even the damn moogles - what if you failed?" - he let that sink in for a moment, before continuing, before Yuffie prepared to retort - "How many people'd be upset, let alone Riku?"

"I know that! But I won't fail!"

"How d'you know that, kiddo?"

"Because I won't. I'm invincible."

That cocky smirk, the hands on her hips, the eyes narrowed and the bangs falling into her eyes. She tilted her head to the side. Damn, he figured, she and Riku combined would make some pretty fucking weird kids.

"No one's invincible."

"I am."

"Nah."

"Cid, I don't ever wanna be separated from him. I love Riku," she said, then trailed off and corrected herself quickly, "_I like him a lot._ I just wanna be with him. Why don't you get that!"

"Because his being a Heart– well, _Nobody_ is different. It's just a hurdle, kid, not a damn wall. Why aren't you asking _him_ this, instead of me?"

He was glad she had asked him, really. He had no clue what was going on in that kid's head, and if Riku decided to tell her yes... well, Yuffie was clever, but when someone she agreed with told her what to do, she did it. And it would lead to disaster.

"He'd tell me not to - he'd say no!"

"It's a risk if you do, it's a risk if you don't. Bluntly, kid - you let yourself lose to a Heartless, and don't become a Nobody, you're fucked. No other chances."

"But Cid––"

"You say you want to be there for him," he cut her off, "but are y' willing to get on the same train he's on?"

"What's that supposed to mean? That I'm not going with him?"

"Just somethin' a buddy of mine used to say. He always made these dumb train references... but they had meanin'. But even so, are you willing to get on the same train as him? Suffer the same fate, get off with him?"

Yuffie grinned wickedly - "Get off with him?" - but Cid rolled his eyes and gave her an amused but frustrated look, and she said seriously, "Riku and I are together. We're gonna be together forever - unless something stops us. And if my heart's getting in the way, I'd give it up."

"But why would it be getting in your way? You guys are close - Leon never stops complaining about how you two give Public Displays of Affection a new meaning. Aerith's always gushing about how frickin' cute you are together. You guys make me sick with your constant giggling and cuddling and lovey-dovey bullshit. Why would anything be wrong?"

"Because people treat him different."

"What people?"

"Leon doesn't trust him. People 'round town don't trust him."

"Did he tell you that, or do you think that?"

"I, uh... well, he didn't tell me! But I know it!"

"Talk to him, kid," he said firmly, "but I'll warn you again - you try? I am never gonna fucking let go of that, and neither will Squall or Aerith. You're like a niece to me, and like a little sister to them. We're _family._ You fuck yourself over, I can't say we won't be angry. You mean too much to too many people to just let yourself die so you can be with him - especially when nothin' known is standin' between you in the first place."

"I know, I know."

He couldn't really tell her how little she knew.


	30. Nostalgia

**Title:** Nostalgia

**Wordcount:** 2306

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie, Riku/Kairi/Sora

**Rating:** T

**Notes:** ... definitely not the nicest thing I've ever written. And I don't mean "nice" as in the actual text's quality, but I wasn't very nice to Riku in it. Sorry. And yes, do note that there are alternate "pairings" here, though I wouldn't exactly call it a pairing.

**Nostalgia**

The tiny boat fought valiantly against the waves, boldly plunging against each one. Sweeps of fast, cold sea water gushed over the edges, much to the thrill of the two passengers. They were approaching the turn of the tides slowly, where the waves would start bringing them to the other beach instead of forcing them against it, but until then, the creaky old rowboat would have to withstand the battering ocean, under a big, beautiful blue sky.

"Almost there?"

"Almost," Riku replied. He regretted, in some way, choosing his old childhood rowboat - in his mind, it was the same boat he took alone to the island every day, and it was the same boat he used to spend hours in, laying in the bottom, drifting around aimlessly. But, as an adult, it was cramped, and clearly not intended for two people - he was sitting on the only seat, the rower's seat, with his shins hanging over the sides and into the water. His pants were bunched up to his knees, his socks and shoes abandoned to the bottom of the boat, where she was sitting.

The nostalgia was, in a way, more welcomed and less wanted than anything else he had ever considered.

"I can't wait to see the island!" the girl enthused, and Riku grinned, giving the oars another strong stroke. The boat shot forward and over a wave, sending up a gust of water droplets.

"I can't wait for you to see the island, either," he replied, "don't drop our lunch, now, Kairi worked very hard to make that for us."

"I know," she giggled. One hand clung to the lunch in question - a package of sandwiches and drinks and cookies, wrapped up in a bright yellow scarf - and the other clutched the side of the boat. Occasionally, she would be brave and would let go of the side, and would let her tiny fingers trail in the water, laughing and chattering away about nothing in particular.

"Careful," he warned, "the fish might think those cute little fingers are bites to eat, and maybe they'll come up for a nip."

"I know," she replied, "I like fish."

"Then why won't you eat them?" Riku asked, although he had heard the answer a million times before. Every once in a while, when she wouldn't eat her dinner, he'd asked, "Why won't you eat the fish, if you love them so much?" and she'd reply, "Because I really, really like fish."

And, just as he expected, she said, giving a brilliant grin, "Because I really, really, really like fish."

He just laughed, thought of Yuffie, and said, "I know you do, Hikari. I know you do."

**-x-**

_He felt sort of sick, sometimes, doing things like that._

_With Kairi's warm body under his, her red hair plastered to her cheeks and forehead with beads of sweat. Or with Sora kissing him, his lips working with enough passion to last a lifetime. Or the times he just watched, Kairi and Sora making love. Or sometimes the times where it was all three of them, a tangle of limbs and lust-filled bodies, and so on and so forth._

_Because, in reality, whether it was the three of them in the kitchen, making dinner or entertaining the kids or just talking, or whether it was everyone on their own, too stressed to deal with each other, or just in need of some time alone... he didn't really think of them. _

_Kairi and Sora were his best friends - they always had been. It was natural, after all the destruction of their teenage years, that they make up for it in their adulthood. Thus, they lived together. They shared one big house on the beach - Riku's old house, they had never discovered what happened to their parents after that one stormy night - with a balcony overlooking the ocean, and, in the distance, their old play-island. His little girl, Hikari, and Sora and Kairi's two kids, a boy and a girl, lived with them. They were a happy, weird little family, but that was okay with everyone._

_There were rules, of course - not that Riku was interested in the slightest at the idea of fathering any of Kairi's children - and they were all happy that way. There was love, there was lust, and then there was friendship. Riku never felt the twinge of jealousy, like he did when he was younger, because he never really saw the want to "steal" Kairi, or "steal" Sora. His friends were happy and willing to share every once in a blue moon. But he didn't see them._

_There was something sick, though, which Riku recognized only a year after the start of their polyamory, that he didn't consider Kairi when sleeping with her, or Sora when sleeping with him._

_Once the term "with benefits" was added to "friend", "friend" ceased to exist. There were merely benefits. Every time, every gasp from Kairi, or every moan from Sora, he thought of someone else. Rude, maybe a bit inconsiderate, on his part, but they didn't need to know that. Sora smiled a lot like Yuffie did, with teeth bared and eyes bright, and Kairi did that silly little thing with her eyes like Yuffie did, whenever people called her name, she would roll her eyes in their direction and give them that questioning, raised-eyebrow look._

_He still loved his Yuffie as a wife and as a lover and a friend and a soulmate and everything else - he loved his friends as friends. He loved Yuffie still._

_He was nostalgic about it every day._

**-x-**

Hikari's big violet eyes took in the island with wonder and excitement. Her feet, clad in pink sneakers and bright yellow socks, dug into the sand as she ran, bolting straight towards the boardwalks and waterfalls and _everything._

He let her drag him behind her, bent over to accomodate her height, and after a few metres, he let go of her hand. He let her run on without him. Not because he didn't feel like it - but because he knew she should find her way, make her own memories, instead of living off the the nostalgia he knew he'd start spewing the second he saw things closer up.

But she stopped when he let go, turned, and said, "C'mon, daddy. Aren't you going to come with me?"

Riku smiled awkwardly, and said, "I don't think so. Why, do you want me to go?"

"Yup!" Hikari grinned, in that same way that her mother did, "like a family, right? You, me, 'n mommy."

She put her hand on her chest, over her heart. Riku did the same, fingers slipping under his vest.

"Yeah," he said, and took her hand again. "You, me, and her."

**-x-**

_Riku always knew he had problems with nostalgia, and problems with regret, and problems with guilt. He had problems with showing weakness, especially to those he loved._

_But most of all, he had problems with willingly hurting people that mattered to him. And trying to keep people safe, he tended to hurt them more._

_It occured to him, what errors he had continued to make, when Sora gave him a frown from across the kitchen, when Hikari referenced to her mother like she was coming home. Like she was just gone for a long walk, like she was going to come back home any minute. It was a mistake for him to make her believe that. But he knew he'd hurt her, a brilliant little firecracker of an eight year old, with her mother's guts and eyes and her dad's hair and will to fix things. _

_Sometimes he believed it himself._

_"You have to tell her someday," Sora said, as soon as the kids were all in bed, the humour that seemed eternally present in his voice suddenly watered down. "Yuffie's not... not coming back. Do you want her to grow up thinking that her mom is? She isn't going to believe it for–"_

_"Yeah," Riku cut him off, "I do."_

_There was a moment of silence between the two, and Kairi added, "But it doesn't work that way, Riku."_

_"She'll find out somehow," Sora interjected quickly, "and she won't stay oblivious either."_

_Riku didn't say anything for a moment. He just stared at the wall, and then at the counter, and then back at the wall. His fingers curled tighter around the glass he was holding. He gulped awkwardly, and felt nothing but a searing hot fire somewhere in his chest._

_"Riku...?" Kairi trailed, and Riku threw the empty glass at the floor. _

_It shattered into a hundred pieces. He slumped down to the floor, regardless of the shards, and leant against the cupboards, head on his arms, arms folded over his knees. It was a stupid reaction. But it was the only thing he could do to vent without shouting, and he didn't want to wake the kids up._

_Neither of them said anything._

_Cautious of the broken glass on the floor, moreso than Riku was, they both settled down on the floor beside him, hugging him tight. He didn't do anything. He didn't look up, he didn't speak. He just sat there, his best friends holding him tight._

_And he never wished more to be left alone than he did right then._

**-x-**

The waves reached up to tickle their feet. Swelling under the old dock, brushing Riku's ankles, missing Hikari's entirely. They were enjoying their lunch, in the sun. The sandwiches were tuna and the drink was home-made fruit punch.

"I don't ever wanna leave," Hikari grinned, leaning against him, his arm looped through hers. She had to lean to the side to be able to bite into her sandwich, because his arm was so thick and muscular next to hers.

At the same time, he saw a nineteen year old Yuffie, seated on the dock next to him at sunset, eight months pregnant and just as gorgeous as ever, leaning against him and saying, softly, "this is paradise, hm?" and grinning. But that was a memory from eight years ago, a shadow in his head.

"I bet you don't," he grinned back at his daughter, and she nodded gleefully. He wiped a smear of ketchup from her chin.

"We having the goodest best day ever today," she said brightly.

He didn't bother correcting her grammar, but he did pull her into a one-arm hug, the top of her head barely reaching his armpit.

"Mom's taking a loooong time with this ninja mission," Hikari sighed suddenly, and kicked at the waves she couldn't reach.

Riku froze, his mind flashing back to previous conversations.

"I'm sure she'll be along soon."

**-x-**

_Riku learnt, with great impatience, that it's always hard to lose someone. Yuffie had been in his life - and in his heart - for four years. And letting her go, while not the hardest thing in his life, was the hardest thing in this age. Maybe._

_Only he didn't actually know if it was the hardest thing - he still hadn't done it._

_He imagined gripping her hand every day, wringing her fingers. He remembered the very sound her boots made when hitting the floor - her orange ones made clunking noises, while the tan ones were quieter, more fluid. He could recall the exact way her hair moved in the wind, and how exactly she smiled._

_If his years as a teenager had shown him anything, it was that the heart does reflexive things. His hurt. He had barely had it for a month by time Yuffie was pregnant, and his heart soared. And, a mere six months after the birth, it was suddenly ripped in pieces quite pitifully, and it hurt more than any keyblade could._

_Some people said that children have a defense mechanism to horrible things - their mind, their heart - blocks things out from their memory, so they never recall what happens. So they forget bad things. So they don't have to live with trauma._

_But what Riku would have given to have that defense mechanism, he would have given more to have her back._

**-x-**

"She died, Hikari," he said suddenly, hollowly, dropping his half-eaten sandwich into the water. It sunk.

It sunk like his heart was sinking right then, and how her heart must have been sinking, and all he thought of was how he ruined everything before everything ruined him.

**-x-**

_Riku listened to sirens wailing and screams, and funny other noises he couldn't pick out. He heard crying. Horrored gasps. Pain. Kairi was clinging to Sora like he was the only thing keeping her from flying away. _

_Riku stood there, among it all, amidst the chaos, and stared numbly. Like he had witnessed something horrific. Traumatic._

_He had._

_Oh, god, he had._

**-x-**

He didn't quite register Hikari's shellshocked look, or the way she, too, dropped her sandwich. She just stared for a moment, eyes welling with tears, and screamed at him, "What!", crying all the while, dropping his arm like it was made of fire.

He didn't know. He was crying too.

**-x-**

_"Hey," she grinned, pressing her lips to his ear. He listened, smiling, and passed a hand over her barely-swollen stomach. She had a blue crop-top on and short shorts. She was laying next to him in the sand, on her side._

_"Yeah?" he smiled._

_"Everything is perfect," she said._

_Perfect._

**-x-**


	31. Adultery

**Sorry for the delays. I have 32 - yeah, you read that right, thirty-two - Riku/Yuffie ficlets in my "Incomplete" folder - most of them just need to be edited. As soon as I deal with the backlog, updates will be very regular, and dare I suggest broader. We've definitely got another 69 more fics to go after this. And, yeah, what a fun number :p**

**Title:** Adultery

**Wordcount:** 1472

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** T

**Notes:** Heh. A more mature theme, definitely AU.

**Adultery**

"So what's the point of this," he breathes.

She folds one long leg over the other, tucking her hands behind her head, and leans back into the pillows. He can count exactly twelve bruises on the underside of her thighs, purplish marks under the dim lights. The lamps' bulbs provide just enough light to cast an overhead glow over everything.

"Was there ever really a point?" she says, glancing over at him and giving a sort of smile - a cheeky upward curve at the corners of her mouth, but not a real smile. She doesn't seem to have the gall to give those, nowadays. She hasn't in months.

"I think the spark died."

He knows it isn't true. When they manage to snag a few spare moments together, the spark is so much more - it's a roaring fire. Clothes, when together, have become a rarity. Between the moments where they drag each other from the car into the motel room, and the moment where they hurriedly pull on clothes after the rental on the room is up, it's just flesh and sweat and oxygen. That's just how it is. It is passion.

Months ago, he might have called it a loveless passion.

"Nah," Yuffie smiles, sitting up and sliding an arm around his neck, slinking to sit on his lap and kissing along his jaw, bare skin hot to the touch. That was how it was.

He tilts his head back, closes his eyes, and says, "Then why are we doing this?"

She drums her fingers against his chest in a rhythmic pattern. Dum-dum-dum, dum-dum-dum. There's a pause, where he smell himself (and _him_) all over her, the mingle of his own cheap cologne and something else. He can hear, through the walls and beyond the tacky wallpaper coating the drywall, their neighbours in the next room, laughing and listening to a loud television. He hates motels, and wants nothing more than to make love to her in their own bed, uninterrupted, without the worry of being _caught._

But that's why it started in the first place, maybe, he realizes. The thrill. The chase. The adrenaline. The knowledge that one suspicious payment on a credit card, or one wrong step, or, even, a wrong name moaned in bed at night - it was sexy. Difficult, dangerous, but hot. It took guile, gall, and maybe even a bit of stupidity.

"I love fucking you," she shrugs - and there's that fake smile again, barely inches from his face.

"Yeah," he agrees, and pushes her off him and down onto the bed, knocking her gently onto her back and crawling overtop of her. She goes down without a fight, for now, but he isn't sure if it's because she's too tired to struggle for the saddle or is going to let him have it just this once because she can be nice like that.

"A better fuck than him?" Riku asks, because he can - Yuffie both laughs (half-genuine) and nods, but says nothing. Her mouth is too preoccupied with his neck. He asks, almost too suggestively, "Then why don't you leave him?"

Yuffie suddenly fights for position, and he finds himself rolled over, her straddling him and staring down at him with amused violet eyes, and she says, "I love him."

"Ah, I see," he says - he's almost teasing when he suggests it, but he doesn't really mean to joke about it. He feels slighted. Like suddenly he is good enough for the sex but lacking in everything else. Like he's just filling up the little space where her husband doesn't quite reach scratch. "So sex isn't enough for you."

"I love you, too," she says. His hands wander her body.

There's painful silence dotted with kisses and nips and licks, and then Riku says, "No, you don't."

Yuffie lets out a feral sort of growl, nose inches from his and her teeth bared, eyes boring into his, and then she says, "So, then, the point is, we both have happy, fulfilling marriages, but a bit of kinky, rough sex on the side makes it better."

"Too much of a good thi–"

"He noticed, yesterday," she interrupts, climbing off of him so she isn't straddling him, sitting on the edge of the bed. She uses one foot to drag her bag (Yuffie doesn't use purses - too dainty and small) towards her, and she opens it up. Pulling out a rather beat-up piece of folded paper, she smoothes out the creases, and holds it over his face.

It's a phone bill - her cell phone's. He can see dozens of calls at strange hours to his number, and ninety-seven dollars and six cents in charges. She's supposed to pay it. For the past year, only she has ever paid it, or seen it. _He_ is never supposed to see the bill. They are (were?) being _careful _about that.

He doesn't say anything for a moment. He rolls over onto his side to look at her. She flops back on her back, and stares at the ceiling. Her eyes are closed.

"So you want to stop this."

It sounds so disturbingly final, and he tries to smile when he says it, but can't really. She smiles that strange smile again.

"Why so reluctant? You just suggested it," she reminds him, entirely too honestly.

Riku wonders if she acts like she did before she started sleeping with him, when she's with her husband. Riku wonders if she laughs and teasingly sidles up to him and jumps him, or stays up until four in the morning eating yakisoba in the kitchen with him, laughing and playing board games. He wonders if she regrets feeling guilty every time she sleeps with either of them. Maybe, just maybe, she's her usual smiling self when she's with him.

Which is denial, he realizes. He _knows_ she's happiest with _him._

"Why, you want to break up?" he asks sharply.

"No."

A simple reply, morbidly cheerful even, and she roll onto her stomach. He edges closer, lips brushing her ear, and he nips at it gently. She tilts her head a bit, black hair falling into her face.

"Should we quit while we're ahead?"

He doesn't want to ask it, but he does anyway.

There's a pause.

She stands up, and walks away from the bed. He admires her body in the dim light for a moment, and then watches as she locates her panties somewhere near the bathroom door (they had showered together, earlier). She pulls them on. He can't help but feel apprehensive.

"Wait," he says, as she pulls her tank top off the door handle to the room, and finds her shorts somewhere near the dresser. She pulls them on quickly. "Wait, I thought you said you didn't want to break up."

"I don't _want_ to," she says, pulling on one sock and then grabbing the other one.

"So why are you leaving?" he says, quickly throwing on some clothes and moving in her direction, and, in his boxers and t-shirt, tries to block her way from the door. But she already has it open, and she's standing in the cool night air, slipping on her shoes.

"Because I'm doing the right thing."

Riku knows he has attachment problems, and this is one situation where he has grown too attached to something he wants, and has. Or had. But he doesn't care - he just grabs her around the middle, buries his face in her hair, and tells her, "Please."

"You know, I really do love you, Riku," she says, "but he did have me first."

Cheating people - adulterers, two-timers, forbidden lovers - shouldn't care about anything but getting caught, Riku realizes, as Yuffie moves from his grasp and goes down the boardwalk to where her car is.

**-x-**

"I think about you all the time," she says, voice tinted with a hinting sort of lilt. She doesn't apologize for last weekend. She never does.

"I thought a lot about fucking you," he replies honestly.

She's left Riku, but she's going back to him now.

Then again, she's played this game a million and three times with him before, but he always worries every time that _this time is real_. But when her voice is on the other side of the telephone, and he's twirling the phone cord around his finger, he can only think about the sex, the brilliant smile on her face as she says it, and maybe, just maybe, about how he just wants what he can't have.


	32. The Most Daring of Ninja Plots, Ever

**Title:** The Most Daring Of Ninja Plots, Ever

**Wordcount:** 1295

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K

**Notes:** Because _TheAcidTwinkie_'s Starbucks-lovin' Leon wins at _life._

**The Most Daring Of Ninja Plots, Ever**

"So what's the plan?"

Yuffie paced the room, the flat heels of her boots thumping the ground lightly, her arms folded across her chest. Riku watched her go back and forth, spinning as she turned around, deep in thought about an answer.

"It'll have to be night - after he's gone to bed, of course."

Riku nodded, gesturing her to go on. She paused in her paces, and glanced at him with big violet eyes, and commented, "we should be okay then."

He nodded again, and she opened her bedroom door a crack, peering out. Grinning suddenly, she motioned at him to go over, and he did so, chin resting on the top of her head to see in her direction.

"I don't think we need to worry about waiting for night anymore..."

He could see a very familiar boot slung over the side of the couch in the den. It wasn't moving. And, to accompany it, he could hear very faint, relaxed breathing.

"Sleeping?" Riku said, and Yuffie nodded.

"I'd know that noise anywhere. And he hasn't even started _snoring_ yet," she said in a know-it-all voice, slipping out from under Riku and moving to her closet quickly, dropping to her knees and sorting out all the things hidden there. Riku saw her dig through her marble collection to find the one thing she was looking for - her hidden treasure.

Two tubes of paint - hot pink and lime green, respectively - and a couple paintbrushes. There was also a pack of glitter.

"He's going to kill us," Riku said, more as a statement of the obvious than anything. Yuffie shrugged, grinned, and climbed to her feet, shoving the pink paint and a paintbrush in his hand.

"Well," she said casually, "that's why we're wearing our running shoes."

-x-

It was just _begging_ to be tortured.

Slick black plastic with silver buttons and decorations, the glass pot underneath it flawlessly clean. Round little dials that pleaded to be toyed with. Even one of those little milk-ruffling thingamabobs.

She had little to no clue how to work it, but she did know that she wanted to paint "YUFFIE RULES" along the front of it.

Riku watched the sleeping figure on the couch for a few minutes, while Yuffie pulled the big machine away from the corner of the counter, right over to the edge. Rubbing her hands together eagerly, she stripped off her gloves and picked up the green paint tube, uncapping it and smearing a bit of it onto the edge of the paintbrush.

"Yuffie, he doesn't like me much as it–"

She whirled around, pressing a finger to her lips, and gave him a hissed, "SHHH!"

Riku shut up quickly, taking one last glance at the poor indirect victim of the assault, and then picked up the pink paint. Yuffie happily got to work at smearing a great big "Y" along the front. He smiled, and started quickly painting the side of the glass pot.

"I can't wait to see the look on his face," Yuffie whispered, the grin on her face stretching from ear-to-ear, sloshing great amounts of paint into letters, eventually just throwing aside the paintbrush in exchange for her fingers.

"Nor can I," he whispered back, with a smirk, though they both knew there would be absolutely no talking their way out of this. Not with their names, ninja shuriken, stars, Soul Eaters and various other pieces of nonsense painted on.

Leon rolled over, suddenly, and Riku dropped the tube of paint - right into the top of the coffee-maker. Yuffie glanced at Leon, quietly, and then, when she decided it was still safe, she whispered, "Turn it on."

"What?" Riku replied, eyes widening.

"Look, I know Leon doesn't like you," she said, with a slight smirk, "but you don't have to be afraid of him. Just flick the switch."

So he did.

But he didn't expect it to be noisy - with the open paint tube flooding the filter and the top of the maker, it made a strange whirring sound for a second and then quietened down for a second - when a burning smell hit them.

"Grossness," Yuffie said, putting a hand over her nose and turning the last of her paint tube over, emptying it into the coffeepot. But when smoke started coming from the top, and the burning smell was too much to bear, Riku flicked it off.

"Er... might want to wash that out," he commented softly, and Yuffie shrugged.

"Riku, we just fried paint inside of it. I don't think we're gonna do much good by washing it out. What are you thinking, dorkus?" she said, and bopped him on the nose.

"What are _you_ thinking?"

Both looked round to Leon, who was sitting up and staring at them quite... interestingly... over the back of the couch. Yuffie noted that this was the first time she had ever seen him so _fascinated_ by something.

"Good afternoon!" she said, voice chipper, smiling. Riku grinned.

Leon was dead silent as he stood up, his eyes unblinking, expression - blank and tense - never changing. Yuffie never thought Leon was threatening - nothing threatened the great ninja herself - but even right then, with that look, she was beginning to doubt her courage. But only just a bit. A _teeny tiny bit_.

She and Riku stayed frozen in place - Riku didn't look afraid, but he was pressed up against the edge of the counter like he was about to be crucified to it. Leon took four slow steps up to them, boots hitting the ceramic flooring a bit more strongly than usual, the metal of his belts clinking amid the dead silence.

He stopped with two feet between them, and Yuffie had to crane her neck to see his face. Leon's eyes, however, were trained on the coffee machine. Then, after a tense moment, they flicked to Yuffie. Yuffie smiled. They flicked to Riku. Riku leant back over the counter, head bumping against the cupboards, in an effort to distance himself.

"Sleep well?" Yuffie grinned.

Leon said, in a very controlled voice, "I was."

His eyes moved back to the coffee-maker. His coffee-maker. It still reeked of seared plastic and paint. Lone wisps of smoke were still curling up into the air from it.

He didn't say anything. He just stared, eyes narrowing. And then, when Yuffie reached out, his eyes followed her hand to the kitchen table. She plucked one expertly-groomed flower - a bright, cheerful and sunny little daisy - from the vase there, and placed it into the coffee-maker, with an expert smile.

Leon's expression didn't change. Yuffie suppressed a giggle. Riku began to slink off.

"Yuffie," he said, his voice cold and serious and absolutely dripping with sardonicism, "that's my coffee-maker."

"It makes cappuccinos, too," she said, nodding seriously.

"I know," he said, his voice so serious that Yuffie wondered if he ever was humoured by anything - oh, come on, it was funny, wasn't it? Waking up to find washable paint on... and... in... your coffee-machine? - "that's why I bought it. I sometimes like cappuccinos, too."

Leon picked up the coffee-machine. He held it up. Wet paint dribbled off it and stained his gloves. He stared at it for a moment, as if it was staring back.

"Don't cry," Yuffie said. Leon ignored her.

And then, holding his coffee-maker, he walked out of the house and into the sunshine. From their corner of the kitchen, both watched Leon disappear past a window, carrying his precious, precious appliance with him.


	33. Fix It Up

**Title:** Fix it Up

**Wordcount:** 960

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K

**Notes:** I'm a dork. Go go Aerith go!

**Fix It Up**

Riku refused to speak.

Her hands were delicate and her voice was soft. She was always good-natured like that, and not once in the week Riku had known her, had she ever shown a single bit of violence. Sure, she had a really strong sense of humour, sometimes with its own catty hint, but she never outright insulted people.

But that didn't mean he was going to _talk_ to her, no matter how much nicer she was than everyone else.

"Come on, we'll get you cleaned up," she laughed, steering him down the hall and to the bathroom. He was reluctant, but the stabbing pain in his cheek was enough to let his ego succumb to an offering of help. He felt like he was maybe missing a good third of his face, and now he was going to be _maimed_ and _scarred_ just because of it.

After a few moments of silence, after an irritable moment of trying to get Riku to stand still as she tried to clean up the wound, Aerith told him, "Yuffie didn't mean to hurt you this badly, you know."

Riku gave a huffy sort of sigh, and replied, "She did. She meant it."

The chemical bacteria-killing wonder-potion she was using on his cheek stung just as much as the impact itself had. He winced, grabbing her wrist and pulling her hand and the cotton swab _away_ from his face. Aerith looked at him with eyes that seemed to be growing more and more impatient.

"Watch it, that burns," he snapped. Bad moods, he knew, were contagious, but he didn't care too much right then. He was more concerned with how he had been _ditched_ here by the King, and how Leonhart and Highwind were bossy _jerks_, and how he had a crazy ninja with a grudge the size of the whole world after him, and how no one would let him mope.

"Stop being such a baby," she said, half-teasing, and adds, softly, "for someone who comes across as so tough, you can't even take a bit of antiseptic. Kind of misleading for a girl, huh?"

He closed his eyes and scowled. Was she flirting with him? Well, maybe. Girls liked him. And she _was_ pretty hot, even if she was Leonhart's territo– GOD DAMN.

Riku sat back sharply, hopping up to sit on the counter just to get away from that stupid swab, as it burned like an exceptional fire spell. He let out a string of colourful words, and Aerith rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Can't... c-can't you use a spell or something, instead of this?" he demanded, and she shook her head.

"If you constantly depend on magic, you'll get addicted to it and start depending on it. And then you'll start developing a resistance to it."

He didn't say anything for a moment - he had become aware of the fact that he had broken his promise to be silent. So he merely glowering at her.

"What did you say to Yuffie to make her so angry?" Aerith asked, "She doesn't usually flip out that badly."

There was a sudden lump in his throat. That question... well, an answer to it would make him seem crass, rude, and just a _bit_ ungrateful. After all - he didn't know the ninja very well, but when he made her put down her comic book and walk across the room, calmly as possible, and grab something hard and sharp to wear on her knuckles _before_ laying the smack-down on him? He figured it was _that_ bad.

"Well?" she prodded, steadying his face with one hand.

"I said she probably hit like a girl," he confessed. Alright, that didn't sound too bad. But he didn't have to _elaborate._

"Sounds a bit harsh," Aerith said, and Riku cringed inwardly.

"Well, and that she looked like a boy," he added. Aerith removed her hands from his face, and moved over to the cabinet to get something. He plunged on, figuring he might as well get it out - after all, it wasn't like Aerith would mind. She seemed relaxed enough.

"And I told her I could kick her ass blindfolded."

Aerith froze, a spray-can in her hand, and he looked at her. As he moved to slide off the edge of the counter, she said, "I'm not finished," and walked over. He stayed still for a second, until she blasted the wound with a gust of antiseptic that burned at least a dozen times more than the other.

He bit his lip and had to blink back mild tears of pain to resist yelling. He wasn't going to cry about it, but it was enough to dampen his eyes and dig his fingernails into his palms.

"Listen up, kid," she said, with a smile on her face, but her eyes were pure mischief - really, a lot like Yuffie's, too - and she grabbed the collar of his shirt for emphasis. "That girl that hit you? She overreacts a lot. I was on your side until just now. But as I consider her to be a little _sister_... you deserved it."

She let go, backed off, and cleaned up her supplies. Riku sat there, a bit intimidated, a bit defensive. He opened his mouth to say something, and she smiled at him and said, "Did you want to argue that?"

He shook his head. She laughed and said, "Alright. I'm going to go run some errands. Will you be okay here on your own?"

Yeah. He was definitely intimidated.

Women were _vicious_, and he certainly was not going to make _those_ mistakes again.


	34. Bad Mood

**Title:** Bad Mood

**Wordcount:** 1175

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K

**Notes:** I'm STILL a dork. Beware, the ninja!

**Bad Mood**

She was a free girl.

It didn't mean she gave herself to just about everyone, or that she was open about everything. But she was loud about the things that she needed to say. She was confidently in-gear with herself, she was brave and maybe a bit two-faced. But she was hell to mess with when she was in a bad mood.

As he tended to do in almost everything, Riku learned the hard way.

Yuffie was lounged on the couch like the queen - no, just the catty princess - of the house. In her pajama pants and a fairly tight collared zip-up sweater. Cute bright orange pants with red stars - low slung on the hips, too. The sweater was plain white. She wore striped brown, blue and white socks. She wasn't exactly colour-coordinated, but she looked comfy. Yet she still seemed bitter at the same time - she was cleaning her smaller weapons with a meticulous fury.

Aerith was in the kitchen, humming as she tried to cook up some bound-to-go-wrong recipe. Leon was out training. Cid was on an expedition to Hollow Bastion. Cloud was wandering, like he often did.

Riku made no hesitation to plop down in the only remaining space on the couch - the mere foot of space between her feet and the other armrest - and pick up the television remote. Sweeping a couple irritating pieces of hair from his eyes, he caught her eye from over her knees.

They weren't very welcoming eyes.

"Fine, I'll move," he sighed, moving to slide down to sit on the floor, but she scowled and tucked up her legs more to give him more room. He moved to the floor anyway.

"No. Sit on the couch," she snapped, dropping a kunai from her lap mid-polish and leant forward, grabbing his ear and tugging him in her general direction.

He leant in her direction, grabbing her wrist to pry her off his ear, and said, "I'm fine down here."

"What are you doing, avoiding me, you jerk?" was Yuffie's sharp reply, and she tugged harder, "don't make me stick this in not-happy places."

She twirled a senbon between her fingers - frankly, Riku wasn't in the mood to be stabbed with thick needles, so he moved to sit, perched, on the very edge of the couch cushion.

"Fine," he said. He rested his elbows on his knees, and flicked on the TV.

Her foot slipped in front of his stomach, and pressured him backwards, with a low growl of, "Actually sit on the couch."

But he wasn't in the mood to be bossed around, either. So, he got up, grabbed her ankles and lifted them back - she gave an irritated little snarl - and sat as close as he possibly could to her, just to bug her. He dropped her thighs across his lap.

"Too close, buddy," was the fumed reply, and she squirmed back, wriggling to sit on the armrest and farther away from him, "move."

"There's plenty of room on the floor," he replied smoothly, eyes moving to watch the TV. When she threatened him and shoved his shoulder, he remained stone-still, staring at the TV like she didn't exist.

Eventually, she just climbed to her feet and shoved until she knocked him over onto his side. Robotic, he resisted, and tried to sit up again, but she sat on his side. He turned, trying to get out from under her - it wasn't exactly comfortable - but she snapped, "Quit moving."

He eyes wandered to her rear, and he said, with little seriousness, "nice view."

It wasn't because he meant it - it was because he knew it'd tick her off.

She climbed off, and grabbed his foot - after a few jerks, she pulled him in the general direction of "off the couch", but he grabbed the back of the couch and put his other foot on the coffee table for support, staying locked in spot. She gave a frustrated scream.

"Are you alright, Yuffie?" Aerith called from the kitchen. Yuffie let go of Riku, straightened up, and hollered back.

"Riku's being a pervert. Tell him to leave me alone. I had the couch first!"

"I'm not a referee," Aerith replied.

"See? I win," Riku grinned. Yuffie aimed a slap at his head, but he ducked.

Although, it was a duck with the skill of someone with little coordination - he just slid off the couch to sit on the floor, shoulders against the seat, one knee bent over the table top. He was a bit crammed into a place boys his size generally didn't go - thus, as he tried to pry himself from his place, Yuffie smirked, stepped over him, and went to sit down on the couch. Well, damn, he was stuck, wasn't he?

But being crammed in a small place didn't stop him from reaching up and grabbing her around the knees, so she tripped and fell after a few arm-flailing stumbles to stay upright. Yuffie landed hard - knees on his lap, rear-end on the floor, and elbows out back.

"Ass," she snapped.

"Tattletale," he replied.

"I think you're a jerk," she replied, pulling one leg from his arms and aiming to bop him in the head with the ball of her foot - he grabbed it with his wrist, twisting so he managed to move out of the space between the couch and the table. It was a narrow dodge. Somehow, he knew, if she tried any harder, he'd be down a thousand brain cells.

"I'm not the one trying to kick people in the head."

"You're annoying," she replied, and he gave a hollow laugh.

"I'm still not the one trying to kick people in the head."

She leant forward abruptly, grabbed his wrist, and lowered her mouth to his wrist. He was a bit taken off-guard, as a kiss was the last thing he expected, but it turned out his mind had jumped to conclusions again - her teeth sank into his skin, he felt blood pool, and with a yelp he shook her off.

"YOU BIT ME," he snapped, both shocked and angry, but more incredulous than anything. Yuffie laughed maliciously, and Riku shouted, "AERITH, SHE BIT ME."

Aerith's reply wasn't very nice to either - it was a laugh accompanied by a chipper, "One, you deserve it, and two, get a rabies shot. Is everyone happy now."

Both teenagers glowered at each other, and as Riku's grip slacked, Yuffie stood up and placed a foot on his head, preparing to shove - however, he took the only measure he could, and grabbed her pants by the knees, and dragged them down. Yuffie screamed - Riku laughed until he was violently beaten with a throw pillow.

And Aerith continued to prod through her cookbook and ruffle through the cupboards, figuring that they'd be laughing and being terrors to society again within the next ten minutes.


	35. Blindfold

**Title:** Blindfold

**Wordcount:** 1282

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K

**Notes:** Long time no see, eh?

**Blindfold**

The clouds around the top of the mountain were always a mystery to her.

Wutai was surrounded by mountains - hell, the city (but city was too strong of a word - it was really Yuffie's precious wonderland, even if it wasn't so precious as of late) was nestled underneath the great Da Chao. She loved those mountains. They were where she escaped to when her father was shaming them by bowing to foreign pressure, and that was certainly something she needed an escape from. Every day, she packed her bag and loaded up her arsenal of ninja weapons, and set out to leave forever. Every day, she came back with an empty stomach.

She never understood adults, and figured she never would. But then again, no one understood things like clouds on top of mountains.

"It's from the wind," he explained, on the first day, when she wondered it aloud.

"He" was a traveller. Yuffie had yet to find out who he really was, but she had found him - if one could find something when they weren't looking - when she was on a hike. Yes, hikes usually took her five hours worth of walking away from her home. The sixteen year old barely wanted to be on the same continent as her old man and his tourism, let alone in the same house. Almost a hundred kilometres away was a thousand too few.

"Wind doesn't make clouds," Yuffie said stubbornly.

He was a pretty guy - not really her type, as she generally went for someone maybe just a bit less delicate-looking, but then again, she could only see half of his face. He wore a long black coat with a hood that fell over his eyes, with a black zip-up shirt and white vest, and blue slacks. An oddly colourful wardrobe for someone so sombre. She could see wisps of silvery white hair coming from under his hood. Under the shadows on his upper face, she could just see a tiny bit of skin - a strong nose, a strong jaw. A bit of midriff.

"Yeah, it can," he replied smoothly. He was leaning against the post of a rope bridge.Yuffie hated that thing with a violent passion, because it moved and swung and creaked when one walked, and it made her feel sick. She wondered how he could stand there and lean so close to a cliff without concern.

She'd tried to cross that bridge dozens of times, and never had she been able to get to the other side. Her stomach couldn't handle it, and nor could her fear of heights.

"Nuh-uh," she growled, "you can't see wind. How can it make _clouds?"_

He held out a hand to her, gloved in white - and reached to take hers. She reached for her Razor Ring defensively, making a loud metallic ring as she pulled it from the metal hook on her belt. After a second, he gave a chuckle, and said, "I don't want a fight. Just give me your hand."

So, suspicious, she cautiously offered him the hand, hovering it a few inches from his. When he didn't take hers, she tapped his fingers, curiously, and he took her hand carefully, groping it almost blindly.

He moved it so she was holding it up, palm-first, and he held his up the same, but they didn't touch.

"Aren't you afraid of the cliff right there?" she asked. He shook his head. "Why not?" she asked.

"I can't see it."

"Huh?"

He tilted his head back, and with his free hand, flipped off his hood, showing a mess of slightly ruffled, layered white hair. And a blindfold, a strip of tattered black cloth tied around his eyes. The fabric gathered a bit on the bridge of his nose.

He didn't say anything. Her mind was flooded with questions, her brain swamped with ideas and daring stories of how a blindfolded stranger could make it this far in life. Did he have eyes at all? Was he blind? Was he just ugly with his eyes showing? Did he just have empty sockets in his face?

"See," he said, "My hand's the hot air. And your hand is the mountain."

She paused, and said, "Do you have eyes?"

He moved around their hands, gesturing blindly, and continued, "See... the air runs at the mountain really, really fast... and runs up it."

He moved his hand towards hers and then against it, pushing the flat of her palm and running against it.

"And as it gets higher and higher, it gets colder - and it expands really fast and turns into clouds."

She reached for his blindfold with her free hand, hooking her fingers between the fabric and his temple, and tugged - his free hand shot to her wrist, trying to get a solid grip on it, but due to the arm-length soft shield she wore, by time he managed to get a decent grip on her wrist, she had already pushed the blindfold out of the way.

"You _have_ eyes," she said curiously, "open them."

He pulled her hand away and flicked the blindfold back up, giving her a slight frown.

"Some people like their secrets, princess."

Yuffie was silent for a moment. A million more questions buzzing her head, she stood there, watching him and his dead silence, platinum hair blowing in the wind. She didn't have a clue. How he knew she was Yuffie Kisaragi, how he got there, what to do how... how _anything._

"How did you get up the mountains?"

He didn't say anything for a moment - she canted her head, staring. And then, softly, he said, "Same way you did. I walked."

"How did you know where to go?" she demanded, and he laughed for a moment. "How do you know where the cliffs are?

"You ask a lot of questions, Yuffie," he said, with a smile. She just stared.

"Where are you from?" she pressed. "Why are you HERE? If you're with ShinRa, I'm gonna have to deck you, you know."

"East. Some dumb little island off the coast of Costa Del Sol."

Good.

There was a pause. You know, maybe there was a chance for escape. Yuffie looked up at him, curiously, and then to the rope bridge. She'd never gone further from Wutai than that... she'd never been able to make it twenty paces before running, sick, for solid land.

"You going back there?" she asked.

"No, I can't go back there. But I am heading east again."

"I'm going with you," she said. He frowned.

"Why?"

Not "no", not "what?" and not "can't."

Why?

"I need to leave," she said, quickly, "but... I can't get over that bridge. So, if you want to go with me, I'll help you kick ass along the way, and it'll be all fun and games and stuff. I just have to get out of the west continent, Mr. Blind Guy."

He laughed. "My name's Riku, by the way."

She let out a giggle and gave a goofy grin.

"Please 'ta meet you, Riku."

He reached over and pushed down her headband, so it covered her eyes. Yuffie put her hand on his arm to steady herself, and he steered her towards the bridge. It was funny - he moved with such knowledge of his surroundings that it seemed he could see after all. Why the hands, then? Why the blindfold? Why so blinded?

"Let's go, then."

Yuffie took a big breath and stepped forward, his hand on her shoulder as the bridge lurched under her.

She made it this time.


	36. Sister

**Title:** Sister

**Wordcount:** 654

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K

**Notes:** More old stuff I forgot to post.

"Hey, Leonhart."

Leon looked up, giving a slightly testy look at the boy across from him. His fork paused halfway to his mouth, eyeing the smirk on the kid's face, the all-too-playful green eyes, and ever-lurking suspicion that he was going to say something attack-worthy.

"Yes, Riku?" Leon said flatly, examining Riku calmly, trying to figure out what little wheels were spinning in his head. He was usually good at that, he usually could do that. And the moment Riku glanced at Yuffie, who was picking at her pasta with the edge of her spoon, and Yuffie looked up and exchanged a grin with him - you know, one of _those_ grins, where the eyes sparkle and the cheeks lift and the lips curl. Where two people's eyes lock, and they share this one moment of complete understanding, and everyone else - even Leon - is left in the dust.

Leon hated that moment suddenly, and it was all but confirmed when Riku uttered those words. But he still didn't expect _that_ as an answer.

"Can I sleep in Yuffie's room tonight?"

Leon's fork slipped from his hand, clattering against the ceramic plate loudly. He just glared for a stupid moment, and next to him, Aerith gave a sort of choke on the food in her mouth. Leon's eyes moved to Aerith quickly, putting a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up, swallowing her food.

"I was so not expecting that," Aerith said, giving a laugh. Leon grimaced, his hand drifting down her arm and back to his dinner, and watched Yuffie's mouth curve into a smirk to match Riku's.

"No," he said as smoothly as he could, though he felt a bit disturbed. Hell, it was _obvious_ Yuffie and Riku had something. He had known it ever since seeing them talk, seeing them play, seeing them... kiss. But that didn't change the fact that the girl he had helped raise as a _little sister_ was with... ugh, that suspicious, arrogant kid. He didn't care whatsoever what they did when he was out of sight and earshot. But when they were going to be blatant...

"Why would you ask such a stupid question? What do you _think_ I'm going say to that?"

"Well," Riku shrugged, leaning back in his seat and tucking his hands behind his head, and continued, "I'd rather clear it up, instead of being shot or something when I try without permission."

He wanted nothing more than to wipe that stupid smirk off of Riku's face, wipe away that look that just oozed "That's right, I went there", and absolutely nagged at him.

Leon felt the kid's legs stretch out under the table, his feet moving by his and brushing, he realized, against Yuffie's. Oh, no, _not during dinner._ He didn't even want to think about that. There was no hesitation in his move to put his foot between Yuffie's leg and Riku's foot, so that when Riku's foot moved to caress Yuffie, instead, he pet a leather-clad leg.

Riku made no hesitation to withdraw, the smirk on his face wiping away for a brief moment. When Riku had finished casting an inconspicuous glance under the table - yes, Leon thought, that was _his_ shin down there - Leon caught his eye and raised a skeptical eyebrow. Riku's smirk immediately returned, like a facade to hide how much respect he just lost.

Cocky little kid.

"I said no," Leon replied calmly, and when Riku's smirk moved into a grin, he finished with, "but I will padlock you in your room, and Yuffie in hers. No matter how innocent you want to make it seem, I don't want to try to sleep in the next room knowing that."

Yuffie was busy making mouth-like gestures with her hand, mocking him, laughing in his face.


	37. Other Side of the Story

**Title:** Other Side of the Story

**Wordcount:** 1491

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K

**Notes:** A bit of an explanation as to how Riku came to stay with the group in Traverse Town.

**Other Side of the Story**

Riku understood the tension immediately.

When the King brought him to Leonhart's door and knocked, Riku wasn't sure what was going on. When Leonhart knelt down and shook Mickey's hand in a friendly way, unsmiling but looking fairly cheerful, Riku wasn't sure who he was meeting. Mickey spoke to Leonhart like a friend, and when Mickey addressed him with a hint of a favour in his voice, Leonhart's eyes widened slightly and he looked up at Riku from his place at Mickey's level, and awkwardly stood up to his full height. The look, Riku knew immediately, wasn't meant to make him feel welcome.

"Hello, Riku," was the stiff greeting, and the older man extended one gloved hand to shake. Riku stepped forward and shook it. There was no "nice to meet you". No "come in for a drink". Nothing friendly. Just a mutual nod and a solemn "hello".

Leonhart invited Mickey in. Riku followed, despite feeling like he was meant to be left on the doorstep until the talk between the friends was finished.

The house was busy, and perhaps quaint. Rickety old furniture, little things everywhere. Everything was shabby, in a way, from the banged up pans with copper bottoms, piled in the sink, to the old teapot on the shelf, to the splintering old kitchen chairs with faded cushions. A pretty lady - evidently close to Leonhart's age - was seated at the table, with a handful of playing cards. A girl, perhaps closer to his own age, was sprawled on the beat-up couch, watching cartoons idly. Both looked up with fond smiles at Mickey when they entered.

"King Mickey!" was the elder girl's exclamation, and the younger gave a cheer, both getting up and skipping over to welcome the mouse king. Riku felt like he was invisible, or made of glass or cellophane. Completely alone among a crowd that was comfortable together.

"How's your travels been?" the brunette girl asked, and Mickey laughed. The younger one dropped to her knees and hugged him, and he patted the top of her head playfully.

"Fine, fine, Aerith. I hope you're well, Yuffie. Still working on that target practice? Heh heh..."

"What brings you here, Mickey?" the older girl - Aerith - asked.

Mickey gave another easy chuckle, and followed Aerith and Leonhart - well, Leon, to be technical - into the kitchen. Riku stood at the door, unmoving, jamming his hands into his coat pockets. He just watched the others from the door, as Mickey and his friends sat down at the table. Yuffie wandered back to her cartoons.

"Actually... I feel pretty bad about this, just dropping by unannounced to ask for favours," Mickey replied, "but I have some important business to attend to."

Leon looked up from where he was pouring coffee or tea or something - and he asked, calmly, "Anything for an old friend. What favour do you need?"

Mickey hesitated - something Riku didn't like. He liked Mickey when he was sure of himself, and seeing Mickey pause was slightly unnerving. Mickey looked at Riku briefly, and Riku felt a bubble of fear in his gut. And then, Mickey spoke.

"I need you to take Riku for a short while."

Leon slopped a bit of coffee over the edge of a mug, and sloshed his hand. Aerith's smile flickered briefly, and Yuffie went on watching her cartoons, though Riku saw her head lift slightly. Riku stared, jaw dropped a bit, and he stammered, "Mickey?"

"Of course," Leon replied, as if he hadn't heard Riku, but he didn't sound eager. He sounded hesitant and unsure. Mickey, however, didn't ignore Riku, and he turned from the kitchen table to face him.

"Riku, I have something extremely important to attend to - it should only take a few days. I'll be right back," Mickey said earnestly.

"What about walking the road together?" Riku demanded. He couldn't believe this. No. He didn't want to believe it. Rage boiled in him, and he struggled to keep his voice held together. "And you're just going to leave me here with strangers?!"

Mickey's eyes looked a bit sad, and he said, "They aren't strangers - they're good friends of mine. You just need to stay with them for a bit. I'll be back in a few days - but I want you to stay in one place so I can find you again. There's trouble back home, I've heard, and I can't –"

"Why can't you bring me?!" Riku demanded.

"Trust me," Mickey replied, "I don't want to go either."

Riku shut up there. But Mickey walked over, and Riku knelt down to eye-level.

"I promise, right? Just a few days!"

And Riku nodded, despite feeling betrayed and angry.

"He'll be fine here," Leon interjected, and then paused again as both looked over, "but... Mickey, I just have a few concerns. Could we talk, in private?"

"Alright!" Mickey nodded, and Riku stood up as Mickey wandered over to Leon, following him into another room. Aerith joined them - and the door shut with a firm snap, and Riku heard a lock click. He stood by the door awkwardly, and after a moment of nothing but deranged cartoon music, he meandered over to the couch.

"Hey," he said.

Yuffie didn't even look up - she just continued staring at the television, watching a cartoon dog and a cartoon cow dance around a party hall. Riku watched it for a moment, with a sort of bemused humour. Kids' stuff.

"Hiya?"

"What are you watching?" Riku asked, glancing at her.

"Cartoons," Yuffie replied simply, rolling over on the couch. There was a moment of silence between them, and then she grabbed the remote and clicked a few buttons, and turned off the TV. She stared at the blank screen for a minute, and then asked, "You're Riku, right?"

"Yeah - you're Yuffie?" he replied. He noticed she was breathing hard, and her teeth were grit, and he asked, with a hint of concern, "Are you alright?"

She nodded and stood up, and walked a few steps over to him - she was shorter than him by quite a bit, the top of her head only reaching his nose. And, looking up at him, she demanded, "Riku?"

"... yes?" he asked, confused and a bit alarmed - he stepped back, as there was barely a foot between them.

She extended a hand, and he took it - but there was a swift, indiscernible moment of exchange, when she grabbed his wrist instead, and used her other hand to smack him across the face with all her might, which was a lot, considering her size. He was so shocked by the punch across his cheek that he actually went weak in the knees, and crumbled a bit.

After he had regained his balance and straightened, storming a few feet from her and clutching his face and wincing, holding back winces and flinches from the pain, he snapped, "What the hell was that for?!"

She followed his move away, and moved to shove him, but he was quicker and on guard, and he dodged away immediately. She whirled around to glare at him, and, angrily, she snarled, "Don't you ever hurt my friend again!"

Riku stared.

Yuffie glowered.

And the pieces fell into place - he was being made an outcast and ignored and glossed over because of _that_. Because he was being treated differently, despite them not even knowing him personally, because they knew _Sora_, and they understood everything from _Sora's_ point of view.

Riku felt betrayed. And horrible. And he moved to go to the door where Mickey had disappeared into, to tell him that he couldn't stay here, but Yuffie seized his arm and, in another swift movement, pinned one of his feet to the floor with foot, and twisted his arm behind his back.

"I'm not finished!" she said, "What kind of a jerk are you?! Doing shit like that to people?! Gawd, you don't even deserve to stay with us."

"I don't want to stay with you," he said, using one elbow to lightly shove her off.

"Yeah, well, it's your loss!" She opted to let go with a shove.

Aerith didn't say anything, or do anything. She just watched with a slight frown, arms folded. Finally, while Riku and Yuffie stared each other down, she said, "Come on, Yuffie. Let's go out for lunch."

Yuffie glanced to Aerith and then put her eyes back on Riku. Aerith walked by them and opened the front door, and Yuffie took a step back. Unblinking, she watched him as she turned to leave.

Riku stayed put. Aerith offered him a faint and apologetic smile over Yuffie's shoulder. His face still stung.

When the door shut behind them, Riku just stared at it, smarting and guilty.

Sora...


	38. Personal Stepstool

**Title:** Personal Stepstool

**Wordcount:** 646

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K

**Notes:** Today is apparently update day.

**Personal Stepstool**

"Yuffie?"

"Yeah?"

She paused, twisting her torso to look down. Riku peered up, shifting in his seat, moving so her knee wasn't digging into his shoulder. She moved a bit, as well, and as she wobbled, he grabbed her ankle so she didn't topple over. God, this was a weird position.

"Were you going to ask, or am I just your personal step-stool?" he asked, and she laughed, balancing on the armrests of his chair, reaching up at the shelves. Why she couldn't wait for him to move before she used his chair as a boost, who knew.

"Yup."

"Right. Thanks," he replied, his forehead brushing her thighs as she lunged for the box on the shelf. He flushed a bit, steadying her again, and asked, "what the hell are you trying to get?"

"My shuriken box. Leon put them up there so I couldn't get them 'cause I stuck one in the wall over his bed by accident and it fell."

"From the ceiling?"

"Yeah," she said, plainly, unfazed. As if this was a normal, plain, average occurrence. Waking up to a shuriken falling from the ceiling and skewering the pillow next to your head was perfectly normal in Yuffie's world, maybe. Not everyone else's, but it didn't seem to bother her - as long as it wasn't her bed, he supposed.

After a moment, he said, "Hey, Miss Too Freakin' Short, need a hand by someone taller?"

"I'm not askin' Leon," Yuffie teased, looking down at him and smirking. Riku rolled his eyes playfully, and jostled one of her legs so that she wobbled, and abruptly reached down to cling to his head. "Don't shake me, moron!"

He was about to reply, but his eyes landed somewhere around the fly of her shorts, and the words caught in his throat. She seemed to wait for an answer, releasing his head, and he finally said, "Nice."

He meant to say "Oh, hey, girl I've had a crush on for a while, the fly and button of your shorts is undone, and your belt is undone, and I can see that you're wearing red panties!"

But it somehow just came out as "nice".

She didn't smack him, though, as he expected, and her eyes moved down to where his were, and she laughed and shrugged.

"Like 'em?" she asked, and he just stared at her... well, _her_. He was flushing too much to look up at her face, and just too weirded out to stare... _there_.

"Uh. Sure. I guess?" he said.

Yuffie reached for the box again, like this was nothing new. Riku just let the lump in his throat disintegrate, until, he just had to ask.

"Aren't you going to do them up?"

Her answer was a short, curt, and oddly cheerful, "Nope!"

And when he couldn't make more of an idiot of himself, he asked, "Why not?"

She stopped reaching for the box, and dropped down off the armrests to stand with one foot on each side of his thighs, squatting down to peer into his eyes. Her knees bumped the sides of his chest, and one of her hands grabbing his chin and tilting his head up to look at her face as his eyes followed her down.

"Why, is it a problem?" she asked sweetly, their noses bumping.

"No," he said, "and yes. Because most people don't run around their underwear sticking out, but no, it doesn't bother me particularly. But I don't mean it like that," he added hastily.

"Maybe I don't care what people think," Yuffie grinned, her forehead brushing his and her eyes staring into his. He gave a weak laugh.

"Yeah, I figured as much."

"Good," she said, and gave him a condescending pat on the cheek.

Oh, Yuffie.


	39. Make A Miracle

**Title:** Make a Miracle

**Wordcount:** 737

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** T

**Notes:** I apologize for how depressing this is. I wrote this Christmas 2005. What was going through my head then, no idea.

**Make a Miracle**

There was a loud crunch and a sickening crack as Yuffie hit the pavement.

Her cartwheels and spiraling flips crashed to a halt, her arm twisting at an awkward angle. There was a long, shuddering pause as she let out a loud gasp, and Riku twisted around in his place, setting his eyes on her as she landed, shoulder first, on the ground and rolled helplessly down one of Hollow Bastion's most inconvenient staircases, her legs bending and her arms flailing.

A Heartless had jumped at her.

He had seen her do those flips a million times in the past four hours - back handsprings, round offs, flips and twirls and incredible stunts that he wouldn't have dared himself. He had seen her aerial cartwheels, her pike rolls, her flairs and dive rolls. Walkovers, fly-springs, you name it, Yuffie had it. She had it all down in one spunky, brilliant package of awesome.

But he had never seen - nor considered - what could happen if someone interrupted her mid-stunt.

They had already been fighting for almost four hours straight - wave after wave of Heartless came, relentless, each wave more horrid than the next. Sweat poured off of them in buckets, their bangs plastered to their faces, and he doubted he would be on his feet much longer. She, too, was slowing down, but someone like her was built for stamina and perseverance, instead of himself, who was made for short but intense battles. Either way had its ups and downs - but she was flaunting what he could predict were her real colours in a battle such as this.

There was blood dripping down her arms and shoulders, and her loose socks were tattered tubes of fabric loose around her ankles. Her gloves were so worn and cut up he could see the sliced up flesh of her palms, raw and bleeding from so much abuse, from every time she reached for another razor-edged shuriken to hurl at something.

He was so bruised, beat up and kicked around that he felt his own legs willing him to just give up and fall down, but his stubborn nature was refusing that option, much like her obstinacy - or was it her determination? - was keeping her on her feet.

Moments ago, Riku felt her back against his, a belt buckle pressed against his spine. He had felt her ragged breath, and her elbow had lightly jabbed his side as she had turned a bit to look at him over her shoulder. He had felt her laugh on the shriek-stained air, and had heard her say defiantly, "Let's get ready to make a miracle."

He had known her for a grand total of four hours and five minutes, and he already felt pain in the idea that she had failed. In four hours and five minutes, he had gotten to know a spunky girl through a tireless battle, and in that time span, from the first moment she took out a large aerial Heartless with her giant pinwheel of a weapon, he had grown to trust her to watch his back.

All he was aware of was the funny way her knee bent, how it bent at a funny ninety-degree angle from her thigh, and the way he could see a bone protruding from her shin under the skin. Her wrist looked nearly backwards - she just sat there, panting, tears pooling under her tightly-clenched eyes, teeth gritted. He slashed a few Heartless down, and dropped to his knees next to her, warding off a bunch of Heartless with a well-placed Aero.

He demanded if she was okay.

But she grinned, forcing out a bright, enthusiastic smile beyond the pain and sheer horror he saw in her eyes, and she pointed out a single Soldier Heartless with her free hand, and said, "Can you take that one out for me? He's kind of a jerk and I'd rather not deal with him."

Dedication, Riku realized, was a dangerous thing, when he watched her try to push herself to her feet. She collapsed under the effort.

She never got up again.

So was the war.


	40. Arsenal

**Title:** Arsenal

**Wordcount:** 566

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** K

**Notes:** Metal detectors are irritating as it is :(

**Arsenal**

Yuffie is a god damned arsenal of weapons on her own.

Regardless of how little she tends to wear - _more flexibility, with less restriction, _she insists - it would take any _lucky_ security guard an hour to pat her down, and he would still miss the crucial things.

Riku realized it was a mistake to try and enter the biggest bank in Twilight Town with her on their second hour. While at first the only weapon on her was apparent - the large Conformer strapped to her back - after she had gone through the stupid metal detector three dozen time, she was _still_ setting it off.

The first time had her pulling a few shuriken out of her pocket and dropping it in the bin. Again, though, the detector went off, and she scowled as the security guards grabbed her and stopped her again. Riku waited on the other side, trying to be patient, and struggling to keep _Yuffie_ patient with the persistent security.

"Argh," Yuffie growled, as she kicked off her shoes and pulled a few senbon from underneath the shoe lining, "gimme a break. Like I need to heist your bank."

Four shuriken came from the gap between the bottom and the sole of the right shoe, and a shobo from the other.

"Jeez, Yuffie," Riku said, incredulous, as she looked like she was about to punch the meanest of the guards in the face. "Look. We'll go off to the side, we'll find _all_ of your weapons, so that these guys can help other people, and you can resist the urge to beat them, and yeah..."

Yuffie looked reluctant, and he grabbed her wrist and dragged her off towards the bathrooms, much to her protest. And, realizing it was a single washroom, he followed her in without a hesitation.

"They're such jerks," she huffed as she stripped off her gloves and pulled a small senbon out of the rolled cuff of her shorts, and began at work picking stitches out of the inside of the glove - from a pocket there, she produced an entire handful of cloth-wrapped neko-te.

"It's their job," he replied.

"Yeah, well," she said, "I'm not going to rob the bank, thanks. I just want to LEGALLY WITHDRAW money."

She fumbled with the tassels on her headband, and unrolled a few senbon needles from them. Riku almost laughed.

"It's a rule, Yuff, sorry to say."

"Yeah, but it's a dumb rule," she said, and reached under her shirt to unclasp her bra. Fumbling to pull the straps off her shoulders without taking off her tank top, she dragged the bra out from underneath and pulled a wire from the edge. Of course it wasn't support related - Yuffie hardly needed it, Riku knew that well enough.

"Why the hell do you need THAT?" Riku asked, skeptically. "In a battle situation, are they really going to take the time to let you remove your bra and get it out?"

"Ninja have to be prepared," she replied, placing it on the counter. For someone so scantily clad, she sure knew how to hide things.

"Sure," Riku said, rolling his eyes, as she produced a knife from the hip of her shorts. "Sure, Yuffie."

Prepared?

He wondered how many times he'd be accidently stabbed if he hugged her.


	41. Blatant Public Displays of Affection

**Title:** Blatant Public Displays of Affection

**Wordcount:** 690

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** T

**Notes:** Title says it all.

**Blatant Public Displays of Affection**

His hand swiped gently across her ribcage, tugging her back and against him. The apple in her hand dropped back to join its comrades in the basket, and Yuffie rested her head against his shoulder, looking up at him, questioning. Riku grinned, planting a kiss on her forehead, and she smiled and turned in his arms, slipping them around his waist and pressing him against a shelf of bread. His hand was midway down her back and just passing over her rump when Leon rolled his eyes as he trundled by with the shopping cart, eyeing them suspiciously.

"No public displays of affection in the supermarket, kids," he said, and Yuffie stuck out her tongue at him, then, as soon as Leon was watching, she made sure to gently nip Riku's collarbone. When he gave her a slightly irritated look, she did it again - much to Riku's amusement - but he cut the fun short again when he threatened them with the ever-useful, "Don't _make_ me put one of you in the cart like a little kid, you know I will."

Spinning around in Riku's arms to face Leon, Yuffie merely stuck out her tongue again, and commented, "There is nothing to do at the grocery store." When Leon opened his mouth to suggest she run to fetch something from the other side of the store for him, she quickly added, "Nothing _useful_."

"C'mon, Leonhart, lighten up," Riku added, resting his chin on the top of her head. When Leon gave him a look - that look of total "don't fuck with me, kid" - he shut up quickly, though, and as Leon moved on to the bakery section, he grinned and moved his lips to Yuffie's ear, slinging his arms around her shoulders to pin her against him.

"Tell me why we're here again."

"Because," she said, lifting her hands to rest them on his forearms, counting the rows of fruit and vegetables in her head for no reason, "we got in total shit over that cofee incident and now we're being punished by having to run errands. With Leon. Ew."

Riku gave a very drawn out sigh, and said smoothly, "I bet I could think something we could do that's muuuuch more fun."

Yuffie gave a slightly mischievous smirk, and then said, "I bet you could too... but y'see, doing it in a place where ya can hide and easily get caught is one thing... but doing it in a place where there isn't even place to hide is another matter 'ntirely."

"No one eats prunes, we could build a castle of canned prunes to hide in," he suggested, and she giggled.

"What if the old people come here? All they eat is prunes!" she exclaimed, turning her head to look at him out of the corner of her eye. His lips briefly kissed the soft juncture between her jaw and her neck.

Riku's drawl came back in a mock-disappointed, mock-upset voice, so pitiful that Yuffie squirmed in his grip and giggled again.

"Oh, what's this?" he suggested, "Yuffie? Of _all_ people? Terrified of getting caught?"

"Hey!" she laughed, "I'm not like that... I just don't find castles of canned prunes that sexy, y'know? Food is for eating, not for having sex in, kay?"

"I could eat other things," he whispered, and she felt a flush creep to her face. He chuckled at her look, and then smiled in a somewhat sadistic way.

"Now, now, don't be a tease," she retorted. Riku chuckled again, and she shivered, willing her mind to stay clean. She wasn't thinking of sex, she wasn't thinking of sex, she wasn't thinking of... oh, fuck it, she was thinking of sex.

"Y'know that thing I told you about me being able to smell things really strongly?" he whispered, and she put a hand over his mouth.

Leon was staring at them with a blank but undeniably disturbed face.

"New rule," he said. "No talking to each other."


	42. Run

**Title:** Run

**Wordcount:** 1000

**Pairing:** Riku/Yuffie

**Rating:** T

**Notes:** aksjdas Okay. So, this being today's last story in the Super Update, I honestly have to apologize for a year+ of nothing. Note how I say in my userinfo that I leave FFN every once in a while and then come back in dumps? Well, look what happened XD I'm here for now. We'll see. It's been a long time since I wrote anything new for Riku/Yuffie, as all of today's ficlets are old things I've polished but not rewritten. We'll see if I can still write Riku/Yuffie sooner or later!

**Run**

After years and years of living with Aerith, Squall and Cid, Yuffie was well used to a military-like routine. The average day, for them, started at four in the morning. Aerith had breakfast on the table by four thirty, Cid was out the door at five to his workshop, and Leon and Yuffie were already starting the daily training rituals by four forty five. Aerith left sometime around five thirty, to open up her flower shoppe.

Riku was not used to a military-like routine.

Having been faced with the choice of spending the day alone, surrounded by flowers, surrounded by engines, or learning more about kicking ass, Riku promptly chose the most rewarding and beneficial choice.

But, then again, having Yuffie drag his barely-rested ass from bed at four in the morning wasn't exactly great, no matter what he was doing. And being expected to be running forty five minutes later, well, that was like asking fish to fly.

Riku was a born sprinter. In short-distanced races, he could easily kick the asses of any kid who dared challenge him on a race across the beach. But when Leon and Yuffie, bound by their early-morning routine of No Talking Whatsoever, didn't inform him that this was a long distance run, he ended up wasting all his energy dashing.

And, about a mile's worth of running around Traverse Town later, Riku was fighting to keep them in eyesight, doubled over, huffing and wheezing, and he eventually just stopped to rest, sitting down in the middle of the path and breathing hard.

Neither of the two others spoke - Leon kept going, Yuffie shot him a "shape up or ship out" look, and Riku felt more than anything that he had to kick their asses the next day. He felt beaten, but more than that, he felt like he had been hit by a freight train. His muscles ached. His head throbbed. His mouth was dry.

They were done running by nine - three miles covered. The first words since four forty-five were spoken when Leon commented irritably, "We were slacking off today letting you keep up."

Yuffie nodded, taking a swig of water from her bottle. Riku's eyes widened, and he breathed an exasperated, "Oh, geez."

"What's wrong, pretty boy?" Yuffie asked, one hand on her hip. Her posture was a bit weary, but she was still standing up and breathing regularly. "Can't take a morning stroll?"

He couldn't even muster up a witty retort - Leon was already jogging off, and Yuffie laughed and followed.

By eleven they had fought off at least two hundred Heartless each, and the only thing that showed either of the two had even so much as lifted a finger all day was the thin sheen of sweat on their arms and faces. Yuffie grinned at Riku as she slung his arm around her shoulders and walked him home.

"Newbie," she teased.

-x-

Day two, Riku was out of bed seventeen minutes late. He was slow to be ready and dressed, his muscles still tense and chewed up from the day before, and he barely wanted to sit up, let alone run the death march. He missed most of breakfast.

As he went out the door, he had to grab the door-frame for support as his legs almost gave out on him. Aerith was quick to catch him - one arm snaking around his waist and catching him around the chest, and Riku gave a grumbled "thanks".

Leon was already out of sight. Yuffie was jogging away, but she slowed and called, "Maybe you should stay home today, newbie."

Riku scowled at her and snapped, "I could beat you any day."

"Alright," she smiled, "_race you_."

It was not a smile unlike Kairi's - the corners of her mouth upturned in that challenging grin - but Yuffie's was frustrating and didn't make him want to let her win, like he usually did with Kairi (unless, of course, he was racing someone else - then he _had_ to show off). It made him want to beat her.

So Riku moved from Aerith's support and began to jog, muscles stiff, but his pace slowed up barely metres from his starting point - he stopped abruptly, stumbling, legs shaking under stress. He grit his teeth, the pain shooting up his thighs and shins. It was taking all of his effort to just stand, let alone give chase.

Yuffie had paused - she shrugged easily, and went on running without a second look back.

Riku swore and Aerith grabbed his wrist.

"Come on," she laughed, "before you lose a leg."

"I'm fine," he insisted, and she shook her head.

"Don't get me wrong, Riku, because you do have pretty nice arms, but you're not quite in their league for running," she said, and pinched Riku's biceps, before leading him back to the house. "Leon and Yuffie have been working up to this level for three years, every day. Don't feel bad about it. I couldn't either."

Riku bit back a remark about how she was, well - a _girl_ - and then reminded himself that Yuffie was too, and he was getting his ass kicked and dragged through the dirt by a girl. But he nodded at Aerith, limping back to the house.

Someday, he'd be able to do it.


End file.
